Mirko Hanák (26 June 1921 in

Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...

— 4 November 1971 in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

) was a Czech painter, graphic artist, and illustrator who became famous mainly for his distinctive illustrations and

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

with natural themes. The theme of his drawings and prints were often wild animals coming from the Czech countryside. He first studied

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, photography, video, filmmaking, design, crafts and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual art, and textile art ...

Zlín Zlín (in 1949–1989 Gottwaldov; ; german: Zlin) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 73,000 inhabitants. It is the seat of the Zlín Region and it lies on the Dřevnice river. It is known as an industrial centre. The development of the ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, then at the Academy of Arts in Prague. He was also an illustrator of a series of fictional works with themes of the natural environment, the author or co-author of calendars, posters, and other single-purpose prints. During World War Two, he was forced into the Nazi Labour Camps after two years of college. He was sent with a friend, and they escaped together in 1944. After the War, he went back to college in Prague, where he studied Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design. It was after his parents moved that he started to paint nature. This would lead him to designing books, where he would win multiple awards. He was inspired by the animals, and published his five books of his drawings in the early 1950s. died age 50 of

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

External links

Page in the Folklore Association of the Czech Republic

The exhibition in the Central Bohemian Gallery
1921 births 1971 deaths Czech painters Czech male painters Czech illustrators Czechoslovak painters {{CzechRepublic-painter-stub