" MAX ŠVABINSKÝ " - AUTOPORTRÉT 1917

Max Švabinský

He was born on 17 September 1873 in Kroměříž and died on 10 February 1962 in Prague. Czech painter, engraver, draftsman, graphic artist, professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, full name Maxmilian Theodor Jan Svabinsky. He spent his childhood around Ostrava. He studied German grammar school in Kroměříž, then went to Prague to the Academy of Painting in Pirner. It was financially supported by Count Jaroslav Thun. He was admired for his extraordinary drawing skills and variety of graphic techniques. In his portraits we can meet many important personalities of his time. Together with Jan Preisler, Antonín Slavíček and Miloš Jiránek, he belongs to a generation of artists who laid the foundations of our modern art of the 20th century. Among other things, he was a founding member of the Hollar Association of Czech Graphic Artists, a member of SVU Mánes, the curatorium of the Modern Gallery, the Viennese Society of Artists Hagenbund and the Société nationale des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was also Doctor Honoris Causa of Masaryk University in Brno, Knight of the Legion of Honor, Professor C. k. Academy of Arts in Prague, eight times its Rector, Lifetime Honorary Professor of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, holder of the Order of the Republic (1958); de Bellas Artes in Madrid and laureate of the Italian Government prize for etching collection. Throughout his life he has devoted himself to many techniques such as oil painting, line art, lithography, mosaic, watercolor, mezzotint, etching, pastel, wood engraving, stained glass designs, dry-point drawing, red, black chalk, pencil, charcoal. His artistic index consisted of portraits, landscape painting, illustrations, erotic themes, posters, exlibris, designs of tapestries, stained glass, postage stamps and banknotes.