14 Works, Today, April 24th. is artist Viktor Oliva's day, his story, illustrated with footnotes #113

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

Hold Slavia

Oil on canvas

I have no further description, at this time

Viktor Oliva (24 April 1861 – 5 April 1928) was a Czech painter and illustrator.

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

Meet in the park

Oil on canvas

72 x 143 cm. (28.3 x 56.3 in.)

Private collection

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

In stocks

Oil on canvas

52 x 64.5 cm. (20.5 x 25.4 in.)

Private collection

Stocks are restraining devices that were used as a form of corporal punishment and public humiliation.

The stocks, pillory, and pranger each consist of large wooden boards with hinges; however, the stocks are distinguished by restraining one's feet. More on Stocks

His most famous painting, Absinthe Drinker (Czech: Piják absintu), hangs on the wall of the historical Café Slavia in Prague, Czech Republic.

Viktor Oliva was a master of drawing, illustration, and painting born in Nové Strašecí, 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 František Sequens, who respected his work greatly. He continued his studies at the Munich Academy.

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

At the Chiromantist

Oil on cardboard

50 x 71 cm 

Private collection

A chiromancer is a fortuneteller who predicts your future by the lines on your palms.

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

Centaur and Dryad, 1st half of the 1890s

Oil on canvas

height 48 cm, width 72 cm

National Gallery Prague

Centaurs are half-human, half-horse creatures in Greek mythology. They have the body of a horse and the torso, head and arms of a man. According to a different myth, however, they were all born from the union of a single Centaurus with the Magnesian mares. More on Centaurs

A dryad is a tree nymph or tree spirit in Greek mythology. Dryads are specifically the nymphs of oak trees, but the term has come to be used for tree nymphs in general, or human-tree hybrids in fantasy. They were normally considered to be very shy creatures except around the goddess Artemis, who was known to be a friend to most nymphs. More on dryads

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 Luděk Marold, Mikoláš Aleš, Jakub Arbes, and Karel Vítězslav Mašek. This group of actual Bohemians were right in the heart of the "Bohemian Revolution".

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

Zapadající ideál/ The fitting ideal, before 1928

Oil on canvas

height 60 cm, width 90 cm

National Gallery Prague

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.

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

 T. G. Masaryk speaking to children, Data: 1923

Oil on canvas

Museum T. G. Masaryk Lany

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (7 March 1850 – 14 September 1937) was a Czechoslovak politician, statesman, sociologist, and philosopher. Until 1914, he advocated restructuring the Austro-Hungarian Empire into a federal state. With the help of the Allied Powers, Masaryk gained independence for a Czechoslovak Republic as World War I ended in 1918. He co-founded Czechoslovakia together with Milan Rastislav Štefánik and Edvard Beneš and served as its first president, and so is called by some Czechs the "President Liberator". More on Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk

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.

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

Secret, c. 1900

Oil on cardboard

40 x 30 cm 

Private collection

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. 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.

Viktor Oliva  (1861–1928) 

The Absinthe Drinker, c. 1901

Oil on canvas

Cafe Slavia, Prague

Absinthe is historically described as a highly alcoholic spirit. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from plants, including the flowers and leaves of Artemisia absinthium, together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as la fée verte ("the green fairy"). 

Absinthe has often been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug and hallucinogen. More on Absinthe

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

U STOLU/ AT THE TABLE

Oil on cardboard

36 cm, 25,5 cm

Private collection

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

Im Heilbad/ In the Spa

Gouache, ink and bodycolor over charcoal on paper

30.5 x 28.2 cm. (12 x 11.1 in.)

Private collection

He was profiled in Český Svět magazine in 1926, two years before his death. Here is a translation of the text:

Oliva did illustrations for several books of Svatopluk Čech, Jan Neruda, Karel Václav Rais, Václav Beneš Třebízský, Kronbauer – those were published for almost two decades with his illustrations.

As a landscape and figure artist, huge canvases of Oliva hang in Café Slavia, the walls of buildings on Slavia Island, and Mestanska Beseda in Pilsen.

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

The beautiful model, before 1928

Oil on canvas

65 x 50 cm 

Private collection

Viktor Oliva (Czech, 1861–1928)

V salonku/ In the lounge, ca. 1900

Oil on wood

42 x 27 cm. (16.5 x 10.6 in.)

Private collection

He died on 5 April 1928 in Prague and was buried in Olšany Cemetery in an area for famous artists. More on Viktor Oliva