published by Armand Guérinet, Paris). The decoration was completed in 1887. In 1890 he produced his fine Sévres vase. His reputation as a decorative painter was growing in Paris, where he was made a member of the jury at the great Exhibition, won a first gold medal and became Knight of the Legion of Honour. Among his works that we possess in Bohemia, where he is at present a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, we must mention the allegorical picture “Truth,” daring in its realism, and the great canvas of “The Judgment of Paris,” remarkable for the brilliance of its colouring and the firmness and objective character of its forms. In Prague, he carried out the decoration of the cupola for the Pantheon of the Bohemian Museum, and has done some striking posters and excellent portraits.
By about 1880, the principles of Realist painting had been adopted by all. It was the rising generation of artists in particular that hailed them enthusiastically, without indeed always possessing the ability to accomplish the new programme to its full conclusion. Hynais’ influence, however, did much to brighten the palette of the younger men and to teach them to look at objective reality without the spectacles of the studio. The activities of Mařák and, at the Academy, of Pirner, also contributed their share, and by 1890 there were already a large number of artists who could pride themselves upon a sound technical training. Many of these, however, have fallen off since then, and we shall name here only a select few who, by virtue of their talent and their sincerity, have worthily maintained their position. After 1885, Beneš Knüpfer sent to Prague the pictures he was painting in Rome. He devoted himself to seascapes. At Porto d’Anzio he studied the sea in its ever-changing aspects, the texture of its surface, the rhythm of the waves in calm and in stormy weather. With subtle perception he observed the delicate interplay of sea and light-soaked atmosphere. His
