Antonin Prochazka was born on June 5, 1882 at Vážany u Vyškova and died on June 9, 1945 in Brno. He was a Czech painter, graphic artist and illustrator.
Antonín Procházka and his wife Linka Procházková
His work early on was expressionist, as the other members of The Eight influenced him, mostly Edvard Munch. Then he gradually moved towards cubism.
After 1925, he left cubism and began to paint his own version of neoclassicism.
Between 1904 and 1945, Prochazka created over 140 paintings. His largest and most monumental is his Prometheus, Bringing Fire to Mankind (1938), a composition at the Brno Law School. It is a huge work and occupies a total of 80 meters.
After completing grammar school at Kromeríž, Prochazka studied at the School of Applied Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under Vlaho Bukovac, Hanus Schweiger and Max Švabinský.
He was a member of The Eight (Osmy), and participated in two exhibitions in 1907 and 1908. He was also a member of the Association of Fine Artists. Between 1907 – 1908 he traveled throughout Europe and met the painter Linka Procházková in Germany. She would become his wife in 1908 .
In 1911 he became a member of the Artists Group. The couple lived in Brno from 1924 on, and until his death. In 1946 he was posthumously named a National Artist.
Amazing how an artist can change his style and yet all of the work remains beautiful. Special thanks for Mike Hilmar for bringing our attention to Antonín Procházka’s work.
