"I worked my entire life not for fame and recognition – not for money and other benefits – not to belittle others – but simply for the sake of the art itself, to capture as much as possible of the life of this community, as a conscious member of it."

No other artist has captured the life of the Moravian region of Slovácko and its rich folk traditions, festivals, and everyday life at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as faithfully as Josef "Joža" Uprka, a unique Moravian painter and graphic artist, representing Impressionism, Romantic Historicism, and Secessionist decorative art. His work is a significant ethnographic document and a valuable ethnographic testimony to the regional folklore of southern Moravia.

He was born on October 26, 1861, in the village of Kněždub, near Strážnice, as the eldest son of a farmer, Jan Uprka, and his second wife, Eva, née Machálková. He had a sister, Alžběta, and brothers, Martin and František, who became a sculptor. Both brothers inherited their artistic talent from their father, who, as a self-taught painter, enjoyed painting various figurative scenes in a folk style on glass, furniture, and the walls of the house. Unfortunately, he died in February 1874 from blood poisoning, and Joža, as the eldest, had to help his widowed mother with the farm. She was not very enthusiastic about his desire for an artistic education, as was the case with the youngest, František, but she relented when the second-born, Martin, took over the farm.

Joža attended school in Strážnice, but only until the fourth grade. He then enrolled in the German teacher training institute in Olomouc, from which he soon transferred to the Olomouc Slavic Gymnasium. Even then, he was a skilled painter. His classmate at the gymnasium was the future doctor and mayor of Prostějov, Ondřej Přikryl, who was then the chief editor and publisher of the student magazine Háj, with the humorous supplement Sršeň. Uprka became the magazine's illustrator.

In 1881, he left the gymnasium in Olomouc and continued his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague under František Čermák. However, dissatisfied with the conservative teaching, he left for Germany in 1884 to attend the academy in Munich. In the more liberal environment of this school, he had a much greater opportunity to paint according to his own ideas. He had undeniable talent and was very reluctant to be influenced by professors, so he never stayed at any school for long. In Munich, he co-founded the association Škréta, whose other members were Alfons Mucha, Antonín Slavíček, and Luděk Marold.

After completing his studies in Munich in 1887, he wanted to supplement his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where new, progressive trends were emerging. However, he left after a year to settle permanently in his native region, with which he was deeply connected throughout his life. While he may not have had much love for the "Western Slovaks," his rejection of the Prague center was not due to unfavorable criticism or the reserved attitude of Prague salons towards the "Moravian element." Uprka knew that he would not have enough creative inspiration and energy outside of Slovácko.

A significant part of his work was created in Slovácko, where he found many friends and also several of his first patrons. His works appeared more and more frequently in exhibitions, and despite the disapproval of conservative critics, Uprka entered the cultural consciousness of the nation as a figure who could not be ignored in the context of contemporary Czech painting.

At the turn of 1892-93, thanks to a scholarship, he visited Paris, where he studied the works of the old masters and became acquainted with contemporary art, particularly the works of French realists focused on the social realities of rural life, and the Impressionists who explored the relationship between color and light.

With the help of Alphonse Mucha, in 1894 he participated in the Paris Salon of French Artists with the painting Pilgrimage to St. Antonin, and received one of the main prizes – an honorable mention – which also brought him recognition abroad. For the same painting, but in a larger format, he received the gold commemorative medal from the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1895.

From Paris, Mucha went to London, and on his return journey, he stopped in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Munich. Even in later years, his regular visits to Vienna and Munich allowed him to stay informed about developments in European art. He also made trips to the Balkans, Italy, Egypt, and Russia.

His most famous painting, The Ride of the Kings, was created in 1897 in Vlčnov. It exists in two versions, a realistic one and an Impressionistic one. It is considered one of the masterpieces of Czech figurative painting influenced by Impressionism. In the same year, Uprka had his first major exhibition at the Topič Salon in Prague, and the critics praised him highly. The exhibition became a cultural event, and visitors to the Salon could see about a hundred original works, including the completed The Ride of the Kings. The Prague association Mánes published an entire issue of its magazine Volné směry dedicated to Uprka, the painter Zdenka Braunerová, with whom he had a long-standing friendship, wrote about the exhibition in Rozhledy, and Vilém Mrštík wrote an article for the Viennese newspaper Zeit.

The Prague exhibition was also a financial success for Uprka, allowing the 36-year-old painter to buy a plot of land with a small house in Hroznová Lhota, not far from his hometown of Kněždub, and start a family. Shortly after moving into the house, which he also used as a studio, his son Jožka was born, by his relationship with the folk painter Anežka Králíková from Svatobořice. They got married three months later, in May 1899. Anežka was the model for several of his paintings, such as From the Church and Girl from Milotice (Svatobořičanka).

When the famous French sculptor Auguste Rodin visited Prague in 1902, Zdenka Braunerová invited him to an exhibition of Moravian artists in Hodonín, and he also visited Uprka in Hroznová Lhota. Rodin was enthusiastic about the Moravian costumes and songs, as well as the friendly reception he received. Uprka's wife was pregnant at the time, and Rodin gave her a ring that he had been wearing.

In 1904, Uprka had his house renovated according to a design by architect Dušan Jurkovič into a two-story villa with wooden elements inspired by folk architecture. He hosted friends and cultural figures there, including Alphonse Mucha, the Mrštík brothers, Zdenka Braunerová, Herbert Masaryk, Leoš Janáček, and Vítězslav Novák.

Between 1903 and 1905, Anežka gave birth to three more children: Jan, Božena, and Petr. However, Petr died the day after his birth, and Anežka began to exhibit symptoms of postpartum psychosis. Her condition was so severe that she was admitted to the St. Anne's Hospital in Brno, and in 1905, she was placed in a psychiatric institution in Kroměříž, where she remained until her death in 1959.

The distraught Uprka turned to painting, did not seek out another woman, and divided the care of the children and the household among his friends.

During the later part of his Impressionist period (1899–1905), he also dedicated himself to graphic arts, primarily the etching technique.

From 1922 to 1937, he lived in Klobušice, near Ilava in Slovakia, in his own estate with a studio. He sought new inspiration in the Slovak countryside, but he still frequently traveled to Moravia. In 1928, he visited Dubrovnik, where he studied local costumes and the lives of ordinary people.

Throughout his life, he had several comprehensive exhibitions in Prague, Brno, and Hodonín. On some of these exhibitions, his brother, the sculptor Franta Uprka, also displayed his work. Joža co-founded the "Club of Friends of Art" in Brno and the "Association of Visual Artists of Moravia" (SVUM) in Hodonín. He was also a leading figure in the "Moravian-Slovak Society," later known as "Národopisná Morava." In 1925, he was elected chairman of the "Association of Slovak Artists" in Bratislava.

When he returned to Hroznová Lhota in 1937, he was already ill. In his later years, his son Jan caused him concern, as the son tried to exploit his father's fame and ride the wave of Nazism. In 1938, he co-founded the "National Fascist Organization," and a year later, as one of the signatories of an open letter to Adolf Hitler, he thanked him for the independent Fascist Slovak State and requested the annexation of Moravian Slovakia to Slovakia.

However, Joža Uprka had nothing to do with the Nazis, never supported them, and resented his son's attitude. There is a photograph showing a high-ranking Nazi official, Karl Hermann Frank, admiring Uprka's second most famous painting, "Pilgrimage to St. Antonín," but he never acquired it.

Jožka, the eldest of Uprka's sons, died at the age of fourteen. His daughter, Božena Nováková (née Uprková), cared for her father in his later years and wrote memoirs entitled "Conversations with Joža Uprka."

Joža Uprka died on January 12, 1940, in Hroznová Lhota near Kyjov, from kidney failure. He was 79 years old. He is buried next to his brother Franta in the "Slovácký Slavín" (cemetery near the local church) in his hometown of Kněždub.

Wikipedia/ Gnews.cz – Jana Černá