Antonín Chittussi

[1] Initially, Chittussi was expected to follow in the family business, but displayed an aptitude for art, which was noticed by his grammar school teachers in Čáslav, so he was sent to Kutná Hora where he studied drawing with František Bohumír Zvěřina.

[3] In 1876, he participated in a protest by Czech students against Alfred Woltmann, a Professor of art history at the University of Prague, who was accused of German chauvinism, forcing him to flee the lecture hall.

This work introduced him to Prague's patriotic social circles and found him a patron in František August Brauner [cs], a member of the Imperial Council.

[6] Chittussi made a series of small drawings and watercolors, which he exhibited on his return and, with the help of friends, succeeded in financing a trip to Paris.

[6] In 1880, he rented a small studio and began to work on absorbing the new styles and gained the support of the writer Élémir Bourges, who would later marry Zdenka's sister, Anna.

[citation needed] A street in the Bubeneč district there is named after him and, in 1997, the Czech government used one of his paintings – a castle in Chantilly – on a postage stamp.