Jan Nowopacky ( November 14, 1821 Nechanice near Hradec Kralove - July 3, 1908 Slavětín near Louny ) painter, draftsman and graphic artist

also known as Jan Novopacky, he was born into a weaving family, where he learned from his father to paint holy pictures with glue. Through a local priest, he began teaching the Viennese painter, a portrait of Schrotzberg, who prepared him to study at the Vienna Academy of Painting. In 1839 he tried unsuccessfully for the first time to get to the Vienna Academy, but was rejected due to his ignorance of German. He returned to Nechanice and gradually completed his education. In 1842 he went to Vienna again and was accepted to the academy. He studied here with prof. Gselhofera, prof. Steinfeld, prof. Ender, prof. Mösmer and befriended his classmate Josef Zeleny, with whom he and his school made his first trips to the Alps and Tyrol. With whom he painted in the Austrian Alps and Lake Garden. during his studies he received many awards and prizes. In 1848 he received the first court prize for the painting The Desolate Cemetery and in Prague he met important Czech painters of the time, led by Josef Manes, Josef Hellich and Bedrich Havranek. After the death of his father in 1849, he found himself in a difficult material situation, which he solved by entering the manorial service - in 1849 he accepted the position of drawing teacher in the Paar family and from 1851 with the Counts of Hoyos in Lower Austria. In 1852 he was on a study trip in Dalmatia and in 1853 - 1854 in Italy and in 1856 in Germany always with the painter Josef Zeleny. After returning to Vienna in 1861, he began to make a living as a teacher of painting in the families of the high nobility, he also taught the children of the imperial family, and from 1869 he was a teacher of painting for Crown Prince Rudolf. In the second half of the 1970s, he undertook a study tour of European galleries and, together with acquaintance at the imperial court, earned him an appointment as custodian - administrator of the imperial picture gallery in Vienna in 1880. He was a custodian until his retirement in 1895 - 1901 and later in Slavetin 1901 - 1908. his work was influenced by his stay in Italy, when he developed a palette of bright and light colors and a free brush presentation. He looked for picturesque motifs - views of lakes, alpine and coastal landscapes, ancient ruins, lonely monasteries and villas, as well as interesting people and their costumes, which he often also worked in watercolor and pencil. In 1860, according to drawings by J. Zeleny ( Selleny ) , lithographs accompanied the travelogue of Archduke Maximilian's expedition on the frigate Novara. He devoted himself to his art until old age. The fact that he spent almost his entire life abroad made him considered an Austrian painter. He was discovered in Bohemia at the end of his life and did not receive his first comprehensive exhibition in Bohemia until 1902. His works are represented in the National Gallery in Prague and in many other state and private collections in the Czech Republic and abroad.