Václav Mánes (c. 1793 – 31 January 1858) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

painter. He was the brother of Antonín Mánes and uncle of Quido and

Josef Mánes Josef Mánes (12 May 1820, Prague – 9 December 1871, Prague) was a Czech painter. Life He came from a family of painters, which included his father Antonín, his uncle and Director of the Prague Art Academy Václav, his brother Quido and ...

and Amalie Mánesová, all of whom were also painters. Little is known of him; even the date of his birth is uncertain. He never married; living and working in Antonín's household for the duration of his career.

Life and work

He initially studied at a

piarist The Piarists (), officially named the Order of Poor Clerics Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (), abbreviated SchP, is a religious order of clerics regular of the Catholic Church founded in 1617 by Spanish priest Joseph Calasanz ...

school. Later, he was enrolled at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

, where he studied with

Joseph Bergler Joseph Bergler the Younger (1 May 1753 – 25 June 1829) was a painter, author of numerous etchings, and director of the Prague Academy. Life Bergler was born in Salzburg, the son of sculptor Joseph Bergler the Elder (1718–1788) who instructe ...

. In 1829, he was awarded the Klárovo Scholarship and spent the next three years living and working in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where his chief companions were members of the Nazarenes. Stylistically, his work hovered somewhere between

neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

and

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. He served as interim director of the Prague Academy from 1835 to 1836 and again in 1840. He won some acclaim for his depictions of scenes from the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, and painted

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s as well. After 1835, he was also a member of "" (Beautiful Unity), a society for promoting the fine arts. He died in Prague. His works may be seen at the

National Gallery Prague The National Gallery Prague (, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Czech and international fine a ...

, the City of Prague Museum and the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

Sources

* Jiří Kotalík, ''Rodina Mánesů'', Prague, 1988, Exhibition catalog, Municipal Gallery Beroun * Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová (Ed.), ''Malířská rodina Mánesů'', Prague 2002, 335 s. * Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová (Ed.), ''19th-Century Art in Bohemia: (1790–1910) - Painting, Sculpture, Decorative Arts''. Prague; National Gallery in Prague, 2009

External links

"Mánes, Václav"
@ AbART 1790s births 1858 deaths Czech painters Czech male painters {{CzechRepublic-painter-stub