His art greatly improved in such a richly artistic environment. Paris is where he discovered the joy of absinthe. He also greatly loved the exhilaration of ballooning. This group all held very true to the ideals that the Artistic Bohemians believed in. They all lived and worked there for several years before returning to their home in true Bohemia.[1]
In 1897 he was given the job of Images Editor at the popular Czech language magazine Zlatá Praha (Golden Prague). He held this job for 19 years. Shortly after he started work there, he married a girl named Anna Adamcová who was enamored with his talent. Not long after that, she gave birth to his son Viktor Oliva Jr. (who also was an aspiring artist). The marriage didn't last long, as Anna ran away with a singer named Mařák. Oliva was still able to spend some time with his son, which brought him much joy.[1]
Over the next quarter century, Oliva was very prolific in his work. He spent a lot of time with his worldly best friend Josef Kořenský (a true world traveler at a time when this was difficult). Oliva was commissioned to create many dramatic works including the ceilings of several buildings in Bohemia. He also had several works hanging in his favorite cafe, Café Slavia (which still has his most famous work Piják absintu (Absinthe Drinker) hanging inside).[1]
He was profiled in Český Svět magazine in 1926, two years before his death. Here is a translation of the text:
"Anniversary of the life (65th birthday) of such a kind and likable artist sets our memories well back – to the end of the 1880s – when the very young artist Oliva began to help with artistic decoration of Czech books with such an elegance and charm, that he soon became one of the most famous Czech illustrators up there with Luděk Marold, for example.
As a landscape and figure artist, huge canvases of Oliva hang in Café Slavia, the walls of buildings on Slavia Island, and Měšťanská Beseda in Plzeň.
He died on 5 April 1928 in Prague and was buried in Olšany Cemetery in an area for famous artists.[1]
Opinions from the art world of the early 21st centuryEdit
According to an annotation from what is most likely the Troja Castle gallery in Prague:
"The youngest artist at Troja is Viktor Oliva. He was primarily a graphic artist. His dust covers, book bindings and posters are among the best examples of Czech applied graphic art of the 1890s. In addition, however, he painted several ceilings and decorations for a number of Prague cafes. The entire work bespeaks the influence of French fin de siecle art, which is also a characteristic of Oliva's portraits."[2]
According to the catalog of Czech art auction house Meissner-Neumann:
"Czech painter and illustrator, he studied under F. Sequens at the Academy of Art in Prague, then in Munich and Paris. He was influenced by the work of his friend L. Marold. He created chiefly portraits and large-scale paintings following the historicizing stream in art. His portraits and large number of illustrations for books by Czech and European authors as well as his poster designs testify to the contemporary life style based on the Art Nouveau style."[3]
viktor, oliva, april, 1861, april, 1928, czech, painter, illustrator, 1889, absinthe, drinker, topičův, salon, poster, 1895poster, maîtres, affichehis, most, famous, painting, absinthe, drinker, czech, piják, absintu, owned, zlata, husa, gallery, prague, hangs. Viktor Oliva 24 April 1861 5 April 1928 was a Czech painter and illustrator Viktor Oliva 1889 The Absinthe Drinker by Viktor OlivaViktor Oliva Topicuv Salon Poster 1895Poster 100 in Les Maitres de l AfficheHis most famous painting Absinthe Drinker Czech Pijak absintu is owned by Zlata Husa Gallery Prague and hangs there Contents 1 Life and work 2 Opinions from the art world of the early 21st century 3 Notable friends 4 References 5 External linksLife and work EditViktor Oliva was a master of drawing illustration and painting born in Nove Straseci Bohemia Austria Hungary 24 April 1861 His main style was Art Nouveau At the age of 17 he attended the Academy of Fine Arts Prague and studied under Frantisek Sequens who respected his work greatly He continued his studies at the Munich Academy 1 In 1888 he was drawn to the Montmartre area of Paris to be part of the ever rapidly expanding artistic community there He lived there for some years and became good friends with other Bohemian Parisiens such as Ludek Marold Mikolas Ales Jakub Arbes and Karel Vitezslav Masek This group of actual Bohemians from Bohemia were right in the heart of the Bohemian Revolution 1 His art greatly improved in such a richly artistic environment Paris is where he discovered the joy of absinthe He also greatly loved the exhilaration of ballooning This group all held very true to the ideals that the Artistic Bohemians believed in They all lived and worked there for several years before returning to their home in true Bohemia 1 In 1897 he was given the job of Images Editor at the popular Czech language magazine Zlata Praha Golden Prague He held this job for 19 years Shortly after he started work there he married a girl named Anna Adamcova who was enamored with his talent Not long after that she gave birth to his son Viktor Oliva Jr who also was an aspiring artist The marriage didn t last long as Anna ran away with a singer named Marak Oliva was still able to spend some time with his son which brought him much joy 1 Over the next quarter century Oliva was very prolific in his work He spent a lot of time with his worldly best friend Josef Korensky a true world traveler at a time when this was difficult Oliva was commissioned to create many dramatic works including the ceilings of several buildings in Bohemia He also had several works hanging in his favorite cafe Cafe Slavia which still has his most famous work Pijak absintu Absinthe Drinker hanging inside 1 He was profiled in Cesky Svet magazine in 1926 two years before his death Here is a translation of the text Anniversary of the life 65th birthday of such a kind and likable artist sets our memories well back to the end of the 1880s when the very young artist Oliva began to help with artistic decoration of Czech books with such an elegance and charm that he soon became one of the most famous Czech illustrators up there with Ludek Marold for example Oliva did illustrations for several books of Svatopluk Cech Jan Neruda Karel Vaclav Rais Vaclav Benes Trebizsky Kronbauer those were published for almost two decades with his illustrations As a landscape and figure artist huge canvases of Oliva hang in Cafe Slavia the walls of buildings on Slavia Island and Mestanska Beseda in Plzen He died on 5 April 1928 in Prague and was buried in Olsany Cemetery in an area for famous artists 1 Opinions from the art world of the early 21st century EditAccording to an annotation from what is most likely the Troja Castle gallery in Prague The youngest artist at Troja is Viktor Oliva He was primarily a graphic artist His dust covers book bindings and posters are among the best examples of Czech applied graphic art of the 1890s In addition however he painted several ceilings and decorations for a number of Prague cafes The entire work bespeaks the influence of French fin de siecle art which is also a characteristic of Oliva s portraits 2 According to the catalog of Czech art auction house Meissner Neumann Czech painter and illustrator he studied under F Sequens at the Academy of Art in Prague then in Munich and Paris He was influenced by the work of his friend L Marold He created chiefly portraits and large scale paintings following the historicizing stream in art His portraits and large number of illustrations for books by Czech and European authors as well as his poster designs testify to the contemporary life style based on the Art Nouveau style 3 Notable friends EditMikolas Ales artist Jakub Arbes artist Josef Korensky world traveler for whom Oliva illustrated books Ludek Marold artist Karel Vitezslav Masek artistReferences Edit a b c d e f Oliva Absinthe History of Viktor Oliva Buy Absinthe Retrieved 2007 03 05 Troja Chateau Gallery Untitled list of European painters Archived from the original on March 1 2005 Retrieved 2006 06 10 Meissner Neumann March 2004 10 PAINTINGS Catalogue ORDER OF SALE 3 2004 Retrieved 2006 06 10 External links Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Viktor Oliva Works by or about Viktor Oliva at Internet Archive Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Viktor Oliva amp oldid 1169012795, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
