Karel Purkyně

Karel Purkyně was a Czech painter in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the mid-19th century. The son of a prominent doctor, Purkyně had the opportunity to study painting in Western Europe, particularly in Munich and Paris. There, he studied Old Masters and familiarize himself with France’s contemporary art scene, becoming particularly fond of Gustave Courbet and the Realist movement that sought to be entirely representative of daily life. Purkyně returned to Prague where he was often commissioned as a portrait painter. In Prague, he also sought to create a Czech art world, organizing art events and writing critically on his cohorts.