Karel Purkyně (15 March 1834,

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

– 5 April 1868,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a painter in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was one of the most prominent proponents of

realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *American Realism *Classical Realism *Liter ...

in Czech art in the second half of the 19th century.

Biography

He was the son of the physiologist and anatomist

Jan Evangelista Purkyně Jan Evangelista Purkyně (; also written Johann Evangelist Purkinje) (17 or 18 December 1787 – 28 July 1869) was a Czech anatomist and physiologist. In 1839, he coined the term " protoplasma" for the fluid substance of a cell. He was one of th ...

, and developed an interest in art while still young. Early influences included the Baroque painters

Karel Škréta Karel Škréta Šotnovský of Závořice (; 1610 – 30 July 1674) was a Czech portrait painter who worked in the Baroque style. He lived through the Thirty Years' War which caused him some hardships as a Protestant which led him to leave Prague ...

and

Petr Brandl Petr Brandl (Peter Johannes Brandl or Jan Petr Brandl) (24 October 1668 – 24 September 1735) was a Czech painter of the late Baroque in the bilingual Kingdom of Bohemia. Brandl was the sixth child in a Czech-German family. His father, Michal ...

and the paintings of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

. He spent a year in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

studying with Johann Baptist Berdelle (1813-1876) before traveling to Paris, where he worked with

Thomas Couture Thomas Couture (; 21 December 1815 – 30 March 1879) was a French history painter and teacher. He taught many notable contemporary figures of the art world, such as Édouard Manet, Henri Fantin-Latour, John La Farge, Pierre Puvis de Chava ...

; there he copied paintings by the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

and encountered the work of contemporary French artists. He was particularly struck by the works of

Gustave Courbet Jean Désiré Gustave Courbet ( ; ; ; 10 June 1819 – 31 December 1877) was a French painter who led the Realism movement in 19th-century French painting. Committed to painting only what he could see, he rejected academic convention and the ...

. Upon returning to Prague, Purkyně became known primarily as a portraitist, though a handful of works in other genres are known. He also made a name for himself as an organizer of artistic events and as an art critic.

Sources

*Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová, ed. ''19th-Century Art in Bohemia: (1790–1910) - Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Arts''. Prague; National Gallery in Prague, 2009.

External links

Karel Purkyně
@ abART
"Karel Purkyně: Podobizna kováře Jecha" (Portrait of a Blacksmith)
a video from

Česká televize Czech Television ( ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting six channels. Established after breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslovak Television founded in 1953. H ...

1834 births 1868 deaths Painters from the Austrian Empire Scholars from the Austrian Empire Artists from Wrocław Czech art critics 19th-century Czech painters Czech male painters 19th-century male writers Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery 19th-century Czech male artists {{CzechRepublic-painter-stub

Biography

Sources

Further reading

External links