Josef Václav Myslbek

Josef Václav Myslbek studied at Academy of Fine Arts, Prague. Training under Tomáš Seidan, Josef Matyáš Trenkwald and Ernst Julius Hähnel is recorded. Břetislav Benda is recorded as having studied under Josef Václav Myslbek. The recorded working language is Czech. Places of work recorded in the authority are Germany. Employment is recorded with Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague and Academy of Fine Arts, Prague. Positions recorded include Member of the House of Lords (Austria). Works named in the authority record are Statue of St. Work by Josef Václav Myslbek is recorded in the collections of Belvedere. Distinctions recorded are Order of Franz Joseph and Decoration for Art and Science (Austria-Hungary).

Josef grew up poor in a suburb of Prague. His family pushed him to become a shoemaker but he shirked the duty by getting a job with a succession of Czech sculptors. There was no school program for sculpting so he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague instead. Afterwards he opened his own sculpting studio. He became greatly inspired by the French sculpting style as well as related arts such as photography and literature. Josef Václav Myslbek influenced an entire generation of Czech sculptors and his students include Stanislav Sucharda, Jan Štursa and Bohumil Kafka. Myslbek is buried in Prague's National Cemetery.

• Illustration — Statue of Saint Wenceslas, Wenceslas Square (2013) Myslbek's most famous work is the Statue of Saint Wenceslas, which is located in the center of Wenceslas Square. It took him over 20 years to complete but has since become one of Prague's most recognizable landmarks and a symbol of Czech statehood. In 1871, Myslbek produced some of his greater works including a commission to do a set of statues for the National Theater. Later he would do busts and monuments of several famous Czechs such as Bedřich Smetana and František Palacký. His four pairs of statues for the Palacký Bridge have been relocated to the Vyšehrad: • Libuše and Přemysl, depicts Přemysl, the Ploughman and Libuše • Lumír and Píseň, depicts Lumír (a legendary bard) and Píseň ("song") • Záboj and Slavoj, heroic brothers from the "Rukopis královédvorský" • Ctirad and Šárka, characters from The Maidens' War, a traditional Bohemian tale