Jindřich Prucha

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Self-portrait in Winter Garments (1911)

Jindřich Prucha (29 September 1886,

Fauvist and Expressionist
styles. He was also an amateur violinist and sportsman.

Biography

He was the last child born to a family of modest means, when his parents were already in their forties. His father was a member of the gendarmerie and the family moved frequently.[1] From 1904 to 1905, he received his first art lessons from a teacher at the Gymnasium in Čáslav, who had noticed his talent.

The Village Green in
Ronov nad Doubravou (1911)

After graduating, to please his parents, he decided on a career in

Faculty of Arts, Charles University in Prague. His interest in art persisted, however, and he took private lessons from Ludvík Vacátko. In 1908, he presented three paintings to the Mánes Union of Fine Arts and was admitted as an associate member.[1] That same year, his parents retired to a rural home near the village of Běstvina, due to his mother's declining health. Although he told his family that he would complete his philology degree, he neglected to do so and devoted himself to art. He then became a one-year volunteer
, to avoid serving a full term of conscription, passed the officer's exam, and returned to his family in 1910 to spend all of his time painting.

Formal studies

He steadfastly refused to exhibit, but still became a full member of the Mánes Union in 1911. Deciding that it was time for some formal training, he enrolled at the

Old Masters
. His father viewed this as a failure and, once again, urged him to do something else.

Instead, he applied for admission to the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, but the requirements were too strict. He ended by attending the Technical University and taking drawing classes from Adolf Liebscher, which were designed to train high-school art teachers. This left him dissatisfied, as before, and he concluded that his style of painting was not compatible with earning money. He was worried about his parents and his eldest sister Vojslava, who was deaf, and he had received a letter from a close female friend saying that their relationship was over, so he became despondent and considered suicide.[citation needed] In late 1913, however, he simply went home to continue painting.[1] After that, he finally began to exhibit locally, enjoying some success at a personal showing in Chotěboř.

A Dry Day (1913)

In June 1914, his reserve unit was mobilized. After a few weeks in Močovice, he was sent to Galicia. He was killed in battle shortly after, but he was buried in a mass grave and his family was not notified for several months.

Despite having such a short life, he managed to produce at least 200 oil paintings and over 600 pastels. In 1944, the Nobel Prize winning Czech poet, Jaroslav Seifert wrote a long poem called Pruchovo jaro (Prucha's Spring).

References

  1. ^ a b c d Brief biography Archived 2015-04-02 at the Wayback Machine @ the North Bohemian Gallery of Fine Arts in Litoměřice.

Further reading

Wikisource has original works by or about:
Jindřich Prucha
  • Zdeněk Sejček, Jindřich Prucha: Kresby (Drawings), Národní Galerie, 2004
    ISBN 80-86532-16-X
  • Jan Tomeš, Jindřich Prucha (Volume 37 of "Malá galerie Výtvarné Umění") Odeon, 1987
  • Jarmila Kubíčková, Malíř předjaří a jara Jindřich Prucha: život a dílo (Painter of Early Spring, Life and Works) V. Tomasa, 1941

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jindřich Prucha.
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