Otakar Lebeda was a 19th century Czech painter whose tragically short life and career have been compared to that of Vincent van Gogh.
Lebeda began painting at an early age, and had the opportunity to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague with noted landscape painter Julius Mařák.
He started out in a similar realist style, comparable to the French Realists of the time, and was introduced to the outdoor landscape styles of the Barbizon School while later studying in Paris.
In his later work Lebeda introduced more figures into his compositions and his style became more painterly and even expressionistic.
Lebeda is not well known here in the U.S. and online sources for his work are limited, but the images available show a painter of considerable interest — certainly worth following up on as resources hopefully expand in the future.
