Lot 42

Jaroslav Věšín (1859 - 1915) FROM THE RUSSIAN-TURKISH WAR

Jaroslav Věšín was born in Vrane, Kladno, and died in Sofia, Bulgaria. He studied at the Prague Academy from 1876 to 1881 with Antnin Lhota and Jan Sweerts, then moved to the Academy in Munich to study with Carl Pilaty and Josef Brandt. After his return to Prague, he regularly exhibited at the Krasoumna Jednota and became a member of the Union of Artists. In 1897 he moved to Sofia, where he worked until his death. From there he continued to hang in Prague exhibitions and also participated in exhibitions abroad, e.g. in Munich and St. Louis (USA). He founded an art school in Sofia and was appointed professor. He became court painter to Prince and later King Ferdinand I of Bulgaria and was awarded the Bulgarian Order of Merit. He was also chairman of the Association of South Slavic Artists.

The offered painting depicts a night scene from the Russo-Turkish War of 1877 - 1878, which in its outcome gave birth to Great Bulgaria and then to the Kingdom of Bulgaria. Veshin repeatedly returned to this theme, fundamental for the Bulgarian nation. A painting compositionally close although with a different theme, Nomads at Twilight, dated 1897, passed through the art trade in 2015. The probable dating in this case can be derived from it as well.