(1855–1922) Before the Mirror, signed, indistincly dated inscribed Vlaho Bukovac 191... Praha, oil on canvas, 55 x 45 cm, framed, (Rei)

Vlaho Bukovac
After a long period in America (New York, San Francisco, Peru) where he taught himself to paint, Bukovac studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris with Alexandre Cabanel from 1877-80. After his studies he remained in Paris for a further 13 years, working in a variety of studios. His works from this period were primarily in the style of academic realism but with impressionist elements making their appearance. After short stays in England he widened his palette with plein air painting. In 1893 he returned to Zagreb where he achieved international acclaim together with a group of young artists known as the Zagreb multicoloured school. This was the period in which he executed his large commission Gundulics Dream (1894). Bukovac exhibited at the Biennale in Venice and at the first exhibition of the Viennese Secession. In 1903 he became a professor at the fine art academy in Prague. In 1908 he became chairman of the Medulic society of Croatian artists and a member of the Czech delegation to the peace conference in Versailles (1918). He painted nudes, figural compositions and landscape studies, in addition to his main artistic focus, portrait painting. In his later years his style tended towards pointillism.

A major exhibition of his work was held in Prague in 1921 which he worked on together with his daughters Ivanka and Jelica.