He came from a miller's family and worked hard to become a painter. In the years 1806–1817, he attended the landscape painting school of professor Karel Postl at the Prague Academy and remained faithful to landscape painting throughout his life. Because he soon married, in addition to painting, he initially had to earn extra money as a tableware painter in the Smíchov porcelain factory and also made a living as a teacher in noble families. He could thus spend the summer months in the residences of his pupils, which enabled him to get to know a large part of Bohemia, to study the Czech landscape carefully and to perfectly capture its character. In the years 1836–1843, he worked as a professor of the landscape school at the Academy in Prague and educated a number of pupils there. His pedagogical efforts were most evident in his own children, sons Josef and Quido and daughter Amálie, but above all in Josef who became one of the most important representatives of Czech romanticism. Their father passed on his experience and skills to all of them and took them with him not only on his painting trips through the countryside, but also on the aforementioned summer stays.

The painting of Antonín Mánes followed the model of Karel Postl from the classicist view of an ideally composed landscape, later the influences of German romanticism and Dutch landscape painting of the 17th century with a characteristic interest in a realistic view of the depicted reality were also reflected in his work. Lyricism and realism together with relaxed handwriting were the elements that laid the foundation of Czech landscape painting. His contribution was also vivid colors and, following the Dutch model, an effort to capture the atmosphere. Mánes, as one of the first landscape painters, went to paint outdoors instead of in the studio, and thanks to his influence, many followers also began to prefer motifs from Czech meadows and groves instead of fashionable alpine and exotic landscapes.

The painting Landscape, located in the depository of our gallery, is a typical example of Mánes' work. Oil on canvas depicts a forest area with a deep ravine and a hilly open landscape in the background. On the left, by an upturned tree stump, a shepherdess sits with a sheep, this small staffing further enhances the idyllic tone of the depicted place. Spatial plans are arranged behind each other and color-coded, this corresponds to the traditional concept of an ideal landscape composition. The alternation of parts in shadow and bright light testifies to Mánes' interest in sunlight. The color composition is based on a delicate scale of yellows, greens and browns, the azure sky is almost completely covered with white clouds.

Jana Bojanovská, November 3, 2024