Miloslav Holy ( October 4, 1897 in Prague, Karlin - March 3, 1974 in Prague ) painter and graphic artist

His early work in the 1920s was influenced by the experience of the First World War and the suburban environment of Prague Karlin, where he grew up. Since his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague in the specialty of prof. Max Svabinsky focused on graphics, especially lithographs and etchings, in which the themes of simple people's life played a significant role. This characteristic also applies to works from the time of membership in the Umelecka beseda (1920 - 1924) and in the Social group Ho-Ho-Ko-Ko (1925 - 1927), humorously named after the beginning of the surname of its members - Holý, painters Karel Holan, Pravoslav Kotik and sculptor Karel Kotrba. The formation of the group is one of the most striking manifestations of the Czech realism of the 1920s, which is similar to new materiality in Germany or neoclassicism in France and Italy. A turning point in Holy's work comes after the group's break-up in 1927, when it joins the Manes Association of Fine Artists: its palette is shining, the manuscript relaxes, his interest turns to the vital nature of South Bohemia, floral and fruit still life, nudes. The paintings created from that time until the 1930s are part of a wide stream of Czech First Republic art known as “pure art”. During the war, Holy's creative effort declines to return to paintings following the aesthetics of Impressionism. He has been a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he is rector in 1950 - 54.
(Venice, Paris, USA, Moscow, etc.) Between 1927 - 1930 and 1939 - 1949 he was a member of SVU Manes, a member of The Umelecka beseda and the Hollar Association of Czech Graphic Artists. After his retirement in 1958, he devoted himself mainly to landscape painting around Slatina nad Zdobnice in the Orlicke Mountains and still life. Miloslav Holy gained recognition during his lifetime, which was reflected in the frequency of exhibitions and collections in which he is represented. His works of the 1920s and 1930s, which were critically praised by contemporary criticism, are still highly valued to this day.