Karel Purkyne (1834-1868)
Aliases:
Karel Purkyně
Professions:
Painter;
Illustrator
Biography
(b
Breslau
[now
Wroclaw,
Poland],
11
March
1834;
d
Prague,
5
April
1868).
Bohemian
painter
and
critic
of
Prussian
birth.
He
was
little
known
as
a
painter
in
his
lifetime,
but
he
was
rediscovered
by
the
modernists
at
the
turn
of
the
century,
who
admired
him
for
challenging
the
artistic
conventions
of
his
time.
He
was
the
son
of
the
physiologist
Jan
Evangelista
Purkyne,
in
whose
salon
he
met
the
élite
of
the
patriotic
intelligentsia.
... (view more)
(b Breslau [now Wroclaw, Poland], 11 March 1834; d Prague, 5 April 1868). Bohemian painter and critic of Prussian birth. He was little known as a painter in his lifetime, but he was rediscovered by the modernists at the turn of the century, who admired him for challenging the artistic conventions of his time. He was the son of the physiologist Jan Evangelista Purkyne, in whose salon he met the élite of the patriotic intelligentsia. He studied first at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts in 1851 under Christian Ruben (1805–75), then at private art schools in Munich (1854–5) under Johann Berdellé (1813–76), in Paris (1857) under Thomas Couture and in Vienna (1861) under Carl Rahl. This diversity of study contrasts with his abiding preoccupation with the Old Masters, especially the Italians and Rembrandt. He painted mainly portraits and still-lifes, at first partly under the influence of Bohemian Baroque painting. These works were all painted within a short period and the portraits were exclusively of his friends and relatives; most of them are now in the Prague National Gallery.
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