Mikoláš Aleš

Aleš ( born November 18, 1852 in Mirotice; † July 10, 1913 in Prague) was a Bohemian painter and illustrator. He was one of the most important artists of the generation of the Prague National Theatre and the 19th century.

Life

Aleš was the son of a city clerk and city council. Because of financial problems the family had to move several times, first in 1856 Pisek, Prague, and finally in 1859 after Mirotice. At the age of four years Aleš started to paint. In 1862 he first attended the elementary school in 1865, he moved to the high school that he had to leave, however, because of a dispute with your professor. He began a painting apprenticeship and attended the Realschule in 1867. After the 1869 test, he went to Prague and began studying at the Art Academy in Prague with Professors Josef Matyas Trenkwald and Jan Swerts. During his studies he earned his living by painting small pictures and illustrations. In 1876 he took part in the demonstration against the professor Alfred Woltmann, was imprisoned and expelled from the Academy.

Between 1865 and 1874 his brothers, mother and father finally died. In 1879 he won together with František Ženíšek the tender for the decoration of the National Theatre. On 29 April 1879 he married his childhood sweetheart, moved to the Lesser Town in Prague and went on a study trip to Italy. After his return, he worked 1880/81 to fourteen lunettes for the National Theatre, as well as illustrations for Jakub Arbes ' magazine Šotek. In 1889 he illustrated a cycle of national songs and painted watercolors; his last cycle dates from the year 1913.

1895 his works were exhibited in Prague; a year later the Manes Club issued the first publication of his work. On his sixtieth birthday, he was appointed by the City of Prague to honor citizens. At the same time he received the title of Inspector of drawing to the Civil schools and consultants in visual arts.

Works

In his earlier works, he was inclined to romance based on Josef Manes, later, Art Nouveau was his style. The focus was always the love of the Bohemian people and its history. Aleš was recognized during his lifetime draftsman and decorator, his oil paintings gained fame only after his death. Many of his frescoes and graphics can also be found on houses in Prague, Pilsen and other Czech cities. Also, story books, folk song collections and historical works of literature have been illustrated by Aleš.

Images cycles

• Sense ( Smysly ), 1876
• Home ( Vlast ), 1877 for the National Theatre ( joint work with František Ženíšek )
• Elements ( Živly ), 1881
• Prague ( Praha), 1882
• The life of the ancient Slavs ( Život Starych Slovanů ), 1891

Oil paintings

• Meeting of the Georg von Podiebrad with Matthias Corvinus ( Setkání Jiřího z Poděbrad s Matyášem Korvínem ), 1878
• Bethlehem

Watercolors

• Saint Wenceslas ( Václav Svatý ), 1913

Book illustrations

• František Ladislav Čelakovský
• Alois Jirásek
• Jakub Arbes

Illustrations for magazines

• Květy
• Světozor
• Zlata Praha
• Šotek

Others

• Sixty Puppet designs for the Marionette Theatre Prague
• Refinement of the mountain huts Maměnka and Libušín in Pusteven