Page:Bohemia; a brief evaluation of Bohemia's contribution to civilization (1917).pdf/44

 appears young Chittusi and begins to study, understand and love nature as it manifests itself in Bohemian landscapes. His paintings are not made to please but they are true to nature, as one sees Her in Bohemia. Our great vales, fading autumn meadows, our woods bathed in blue mists, villages nestling snugly against the woods and hills, yellow pastures dotted with shepherd fires, all characterize the quiet and simple beauty of a Bohemian landscape.

Julius Mařák, born in east Bohemia, is called the poet of the woods. His realistic landscapes worked in crayons, charcoal, pencil and oil are wonderful; his pen sketches have been sold throughout the whole world. In Bohemia we find but few works of this artist, who painted the Bohemian landscapes with such exhaustive understanding and who found so much beauty in Nature. His woods in crayon are alive with a riot of vibrations of light, they murmur, rustle and echo with songs of the birds. He painted our mountains, the Krkonoše, then he painted the Alps and from his hands there emerged that splendid work called “Sylvan Aspects.” It contains thirty-three paintings which are really songs of the brooks, the woods, its torrents and waterfalls. His pupil is Ferdinand Engelmüller, the poet of the quiet, sunny Elbe, and broad plains through which it winds. For years he was seen roaming through the woods, along the river, wandering through the meadows, drinking in their moods and colors into his soul, which he afterward transferred with pastel, charcoal, and oil to paper and canvas; far stretching vistas of the plain of the river Elbe, secluded spots with quiet chapels, groups of giant trees with river plains, sunshine and shadows on the green lowlands—these were always no other than Bohemian landscapes.

Václav Brožík became famous through his numerous historical canvases. His celebrated picture “Hus before the Council of Constance” is the property of the Bohemian nation and adorns the walls of the ancient court house of Prague; another large picture “Columbus Before the Spanish Queen Isabella”, is kept in the Metropolitan Art Museum of New York.

The paintings of Felix Jenevain are famous for their deep religious spirit and the magnificence with which he