Karel Kupka ( 4. 7. 1905 in Manetin - 21. 6. 1971 in Teplice ) painter

He studied at the landscape school of Alois Kalvoda at his chateau in Beharov between 1926 and 1929. He worked alternately at the chateau in Beharov and at the studio in Prague ( first in Smichov and then in Vinohrady ). The picturesque hilly terrain of Šumava was so in love with Karel Kupka that after Kalvoda's death he bought the mansion and regularly traveled there until 1947, when he moved to Teplice and began painting the Central Bohemian Uplands. He was a member of the Union of Czechoslovak Artists. He created mainly oil paintings, but later also watercolors. He painted either landscape cuts with cottages or panoramic views of the countryside, forests, meadows, fields and drawers, sun-drenched and often revived by figures during harvesting or field work, with a loose impressionist handwriting and fresh colors. Masterfully captured the momentary changes in the weather. He has exhibited independently since 1929. His paintings are represented in regional galleries in Klatovy, Pardubice, Teplice, Turnov, in the collections of Ceska sporitelna and in many private collections. His son Karel Kupka the Younger (1932 - 2013) was also a painter - landscape painter and an art teacher.