Lot 69

Josef Dobrowsky (1889 - 1964) IN FRONT OF THE CATHEDRAL

The artist who painted In Front of the Cathedral is painter of German origin Josef Dobrowsky, a native of Carlsbad whom Austrians view as one of their most significant artists of the interwar period. He painted portraits, landscapes and scenes influenced by the style of Dutch genre painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.

Dobrowsky's art studies at the at the Academy in Vienna were interrupted by the war, but he successfully returned and completed his studies under professors Christian Griepenkerl and Rudolf Bacher. His classmates included Anton Faistauer, Sebastian Isepp, Ferdinand Kitt, Anton Kolig, Anton Emanuel Peschka, Egon Schiele and Franz Wiegele. He was also a close friend of Ernst Huber. Over the following years he was a member of the Wiener Secession, Hagenbund and Prager Secession. He received the Grand Austrian State Prize for fine arts in 1962. In 2014 a large retrospective exhibition of his work was held at the Oberes Belvedere. In the Czech Republic his works can be found at the Regional Art Gallery in Liberec.