Karel Josef Adolf also as Adolph (1715–1771) was a Czech painter, restorer and valet in the service of the

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

bishops.

Biography

He was a member of a large family of painters. His father Josef František Adolf (around 1685–1762) worked as court painter of the

Mikulov Mikulov (; ) is a town in Břeclav District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,600 inhabitants. From the 16th to the 19th century, it was the cultural centre of the Jewish community of Moravia. The historic centr ...

Ditrichštejn and

Milotice Milotice () is a municipality and village in Hodonín District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,900 inhabitants. It is known for the Milotice Castle, which is protected as a national cultural monument. Geography M ...

Serényi aristocratic families. However, the best-known of the whole family was Karl Josef's younger brother, František Adolf of Freenthal (1721–1773). Karel Josef was born during his father's stay at the Milotice chateau, probably on September 4, 1715, since we know he was baptized that day. We know nothing about the education of young Adolf, we can only assume that he received his first painting training from his father and that perhaps as his younger brother he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He then served as a valet and court painter for three

bishops: for Ferdinand Troyer between years 1745 and 1758, for Leopold Egkh between years 1758 and 1760 and for Maximilian of Hamilton between years 1760 and 1776. He was considered a skilled painter of hunting still lifes and paintings with animal motifs, some of which are still displayed in the picture gallery of the

Kroměříž Castle Kroměříž Castle ( or ''Arcibiskupský zámek'', ) is a castle in Kroměříž in the Czech Republic. It used to be the principal residence of the bishops and (from 1777) archbishops of Olomouc. UNESCO listed the gardens and castle as a World He ...

. His is known for his paintings with allegorical themes, for portraits and decorative paintings. At the Episcopal Court, he was recognized as an art connoisseur. He served as an artistic adviser and was in charge of an extensive episcopal collection of paintings. He also worked as a restorer in the episcopal gallery. Other nobles engaged him as a restorer as well.

References

Other Sources

* ČOUPEK, Milan. ''Několik poznámek k životopisu malířské rodiny Adolfů (Adolph)''. In: ''Vlastivědný věstník moravský'' 43, č. 2 (1991), s. 179–184. * LUNGA, Václav. ''S paletou a štětcem v ruce - Karel Josef Adolf a Jan Nepomuk Horák''. In: ''Malovaný kraj: národopisný a vlastivědný časopis Slovácka.'' Roč. 52, č. 2 (2016), s. 10–11. * SLAVÍČEK, Lubomír. ''Karel Josef Adolph refecit. Kroměřížský malíř jako restaurátor obrazů ve službách Dominika Ignáce hraběte Chorynského z Ledské''. In: ''Zprávy památkové péče. Časopis státní památkové péče.'' Roč. 72, č. 6 (2012), s. 500–503. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adolf, Karel 1715 births 1771 deaths People from Kroměříž Czech male painters