Hollar, Wenceslas

After the capture of Prague during the Thirty Years' War , the Hollar family went bankrupt and Vaclav, intending to become a lawyer, decided to study as an artist. His earliest works, which have come down to us, date back to 1625 - 1626 years . These are small engravings , one of which is a copy of Albrecht Dürer ’s painting “Mary with a Baby”. Durer's work had a strong influence on Hollar.

In 1627, Hollar went to Frankfurt , where he worked under the direction of the Swiss engraver and publisher Matteus Merian the Elder , then moved to Strasbourg , and in 1633 to Cologne .

In Cologne, the famous collector and art lover Thomas Howard (21st Earl of Arundel ), who was then at the emperor’s court, drew attention to Hollar. With him, Hollar visited Vienna and Prague and in 1637 arrived in England , which became his home for many years ^[1] . Hollar lived in the Earl's house, but worked not only for him, but was forced to collaborate with the publishers on whom he depended.

In the first year of his stay in England, he created for one of the sellers of engravings the magnificent work "View of Greenwich" with a length of about 1 meter and received 30 shillings for it. Later, Hollar fixed the price for his work at 4 pence per hour and measured the time using an hourglass. After the outbreak of the Civil War in 1642 (see English Revolution ), Lord Arundel left England and Hollar went to serve with the Duke of York , moving with him with his wife and two children.

Together with other artists, Inigo Jones and William Feitorn , Hollar was in Basing House Castle ( Hampshire County), in which supporters of King Charles I took refuge during the siege (lasted until 1645). In 1643 - 1644, he created several hundred prints, which speaks of his amazing hard work. Hollar was captured, but later either escaped or was released, joined Lord Arundel in Antwerp and remained there for 8 years (1644–1652). It was the heyday of his work, he created beautiful engravings of various types. In 1652, he returned to London and lived with the engraver William Feitorn at the gates of Temple Bar on the western outskirts of London.

In the following years, many books with illustrations by Hollar were published: Virgil and Homer by J. Ogilby ( John Ogilby , 1600-1676), Juvenal by R. Stapylton ( Robert Stapylton , c. 1608-1669), Warwickshire, St Paul's and Monasticon ”by W. Dugdale ( William Dugdale , 1605–1686). Book sellers continued to deceive a simple-minded foreigner, pretending that they would give up his work, and forcing him to lower the price of his work. The restoration of the monarchy did not lead to an improvement in his position; the royal court did not render assistance to Hollar. During the plague, he lost his son, who showed promise in the art of drawing.

After the devastating fire of 1666 in London, Hollar performed several “Views of London”. It is possible that the success of these works prompted the king in 1668 to send him to Tangier to create views of the city and forts. On his return to England, a battle took place between the Mary Rose ship on which Hollar sailed and the seven Algerian warships captured by Hollar for Africa Ojilby.

In England, Hollar lived another 8 years, continuing his work. In 1670, he created one of his best works - a large engraving depicting Edinburgh . Hollar died in poverty, not having lived a few months before his 70th birthday.

Hollar worked in the technique of etching . Often produced illustrated series. The variety of his works is impressive. He created about 2740 prints on a variety of topics: types of cities, portraits , images of ships, landscapes , still lifes , works on religious and heraldic themes, images of women's costumes, animalistic compositions. Its views of cities and architectural structures (such as the cathedrals in Antwerp and Strasbourg) are topographically accurate and at the same time they have an artistic design. Hollar could create almost exact copies of the works of other artists (for example, the image of the bowl according to the drawing by Andrea Mantegna ). His Theatrum mulierum and other collections show with historical accuracy the life of the people of that time. His portraits, an area of ​​art in which he was unjustly underestimated, are distinguished by grace and artistic power.

An almost complete collection of Hollar's works is in the British Museum and in the library of Windsor Castle . The first catalog of his works was created in 1745 (2nd edition in 1759) by George Werth . In 1853, Gustav Parthey and in 1982 Richard Pennington created catalogs of engravings by Hollar. A new complete illustrated catalog is being compiled for inclusion in the Hollstein series.

Hollr owns the famous engraving "The Authentic Portrait of the Cat of the Grand Duke of Moscow" (1663) which depicts the cat of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich .

• This article is based on English Wikipedia.
• “Hollar, Wenzel.” Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica 2007 Ultimate Reference Suite (2007).
• Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Martin Malcolm Elbl, Portuguese Tangier (1471-1662): Colonial Urban Fabric as Cross-Cultural Skeleton (Toronto / Peterborough: 2013), pp. 109-110 and others. ISBN 978-0-921437-50-5 .

• Collection of works by Vaclav Hollar
• Hollar Wenceslas. Paintings