Antonín Machek

Antonín Machek (31 October 1775 – 18 November 1844) was a Czech painter in the Neoclassical and Biedermeier styles. He was best known for his portraits.

Biography

Machek was born on 31 October 1775 in Podlažice, Kingdom of Bohemia. He was born into a family of tenant farmers. His father also worked as a tailor and, during the summers, was engaged as a musician at the nearby residence of Bishop Jan Leopold Hay, but died in 1785, when Antonín was ten.

His mother was too ill to care for him, so the local canon presented him to Bishop Hay, who took him in and apprenticed him to the court painter Wenzel Zitta, who was his instructor for two years. He travelled with the Bishop to Prague in 1790 and 1792 for the coronations of Leopold II and Francis I as the Kings of Bohemia. In 1796, he won an award at a contest sponsored by the "Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts". After that, the new bishop, Maria Thaddäus von Trautmannsdorff, entrusted him with decorating the chapel of the castle in Chrast.

In all, he created over 300 portraits, many of which were made into lithographs by his student, František Šír (1804–1864).

Machek died on 18 November 1844 in Prague. He is buried at the Olšany Cemetery in Prague.