Ivan Mrkvička [SEP] date of birth
Ivan Mrkvička
Ivan Mrkvička (-Czech, also "Jan Václav Mrkvička"; ) (23 April 1856 – 16 May 1938) was a Czech-born painter and an active contributor to the artistic life of newly liberated Bulgaria in the late 19th and early 20th century. He is regarded as one of the founders of the modern Bulgarian fine art tradition.
Biography.
Born in the village of Vidim near Dubá, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Munich Academy. Mrkvička came to
Plovdiv in 1881 after an invitation by the then-Eastern Rumelian government and worked as a teacher in the Cyril and Methodius high school, where he co-operated with the most important cultural figures in the city — Ivan Vazov, Konstantin Velichkov, Petko Karavelov, Petko Slaveykov.
Mrkvička set up his first independent exhibition in 1886 and participated in two common exhibitions with Anton Mitov, another teacher at the high school. During his Plovdiv period Mrkvička created some of his best known works: "Plovdiv Marketplace" (1883