Vojtěch Hynais

Vojtěch Adalbert Hynais (also Albert; 14 January 1854 – 22 August 1925) was a Czech painter, designer and graphics artist.

He began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna in 1870, under Carl Wurzinger and August Eisenmenger, then at Anselm Feuerbach's school in spring 1873; he was considered to be one of his most promising students.

Hynais lived in Paris from 1878 to 1893,[2] where he learnt from Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry and Jean-Léon Gérôme, and knew Alfons Mucha.

Hynais was not considered to be suitably representative of the national spirit by Czech art critics because he lived in, and had absorbed too much influence from, Vienna.

Hynais designed the new curtain; again, he used historical allegory to create a nationalist impression, and also to tell the story of the National Theatre.

[14] Hynais worked for the Sèvres porcelain firm between 1889 and 1892 as a graphics artist, and became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague in 1894.

[19] Hynais was part of a broader axis of connection between Paris and Prague at the turn of the century: other Czech artists living in the city in the period included Alfons Mucha, František Kupka and Luděk Marold, among others.