Alfred Seifert (6 September 1850 – 6 February 1901) was a Czech-German

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

, acclaimed for his female

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

History

Seifert was born in

Praskolesy Praskolesy is a municipality and village in Beroun District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 900 inhabitants. Demographics Transport Praskolesy is located on the railway line Plzeň–Beroun. Notable people *Jo ...

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

(present-day

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

), but within a few months, his family moved to nearby

Hořovice Hořovice (; ) is a town in Beroun District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 8,100 inhabitants. The town is known for the Hořovice Castle. Geography Hořovice is located about southwest of Beroun and southwest ...

. As a child, he fell seriously ill, could not walk for four years and spent two years in an

orthopedic Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternative spelling orthopaedics) is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

institution. Instead of playing, he began to draw pictures and his artistic talent soon started to emerge. His first teachers were

Karl Würbs Karl Würbs or Karel Würbs (12 August 1807 – 6 July 1876) was a Czech painter, lithographer and art teacher. Life and works Würbs was born in Prague, Bohemia, Austrian Empire on 12 August 1807. He was born to a family of brushmakers and ...

, inspector of the Estates Gallery at

Prague Castle Prague Castle (; ) is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic serving as the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. Built in the 9th century, the castle has long served as the seat of power for List of rulers ...

, and Alois Kirnig, a

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

painter. After two years of studies at a high school in

Malá Strana Malá Strana ( Czech for "Little Side (of the River)", ) or historically Menší Město pražské () is a district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic, and one of its most historic neighbourhoods. In the Middle Ages, it was a dominant center o ...

district of Prague, he received an admission to the

Academy of Fine Arts Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

in 1869. In 1876, he opened his own workshop there. Seifert focused on portraits of women, especially on sentimentally mooded heads of girls which became known as "Seifert type". Critics appreciated a well-thought composition of paintings, attention to detail, as well as harmonic colors and a pleasant atmosphere. Seifert spent most of his life in Germany. In native Bohemia, he was personally almost unknown, though he had exhibitions in Prague and black-and-white reproductions of his works regularly appeared in

Světozor __NOTOC__ ''Světozor'' ("Seeing the World") was a Czech language, Czech-language illustrated magazine published in 19th and 20th century. History and profile ''Světozor'' was created by Pavel Josef Šafařík in 1834. Šafařík was inspired b ...

magazine. Some Czechs criticized his lack of patriotism by pointing out on his preference for foreign topics over domestic ones. His approach, however, was explained by financial reality: to make his living, he had to create such paintings that his Munich audience was willing to buy. In Bohemia, his works did not sell well, even if he accommodated. For example, a

history painting History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and B ...

'' Jan Augusta welcomes Filipina Welser'' waited long for a buyer. To a church in Hořovice, he donated his painting ''Ave Maria'', depicting a young girl praying to Virgin Mary. His other famous works include: ''

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama ''Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet. Due to Hamlet's actions, Ophelia ultima ...

'', '' Titania'', ''Walk out of the gate'', ''Spring of love'' and ''Tales of spooks''.

Gallery

File:Alfred Seifert - Sweet Sixteen.jpg, ''Sweet Sixteen'' File:Alfred Seifert Innocence.jpg, ''

Innocence Innocence is a lack of guilt, with respect to any kind of crime, or wrongdoing. In a legal context, innocence is prior to the sense of legal guilt and is a primal emotion connected with the sense of self. It is often confused as being the op ...

'' File:Alfred Seifert Hypatia.jpg, ''

Hypatia Hypatia (born 350–370 – March 415 AD) was a Neoplatonist philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician who lived in Alexandria, Egypt (Roman province), Egypt: at that time a major city of the Eastern Roman Empire. In Alexandria, Hypatia was ...

'' File:Alfred Seifert Daydreaming.jpg, ''

Daydreaming Daydreaming is a stream of consciousness that detaches from current external tasks when one's attention becomes focused on a more personal and internal direction. Various names of this phenomenon exist, including mind-wandering, fantasies, a ...

'' File:Alfred Seifert - Damenbildnis mit Rose.jpg, ''Female Portrait with Rose''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seifert, Alfred 1850 births 1901 deaths Czech painters Czech male painters 19th-century German painters German male painters Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni 19th-century German male artists Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Germany People from Beroun District German Bohemian people