Karl Würbs

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Karl Würbs, also called Karel Würbs, was a Czech painter, lithographer and art teacher. He was born in Prague on 12 August 1807 into a family of brushmakers. He learned the brush trade but showed artistic talent early, and he became friends with the landscape painter Karl Krumpigl, which helped him choose a career in art. In 1823 he began studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, with Josef Bergler and František Kristian Waldherr. After leaving the academy, he worked as an engraver and lithographer and wrote art criticism for the magazine Bohemie. In 1835 he helped found Krasoumná jednota, a society to promote the arts. He also studied in Germany and Austria and spent 1839 in the Netherlands. On his return, he worked for Haas & Hennig, making lithographs of city views, and in 1842 he helped create a major work about Czech castles. He worked with notable engravers such as Johann Poppel, Wilhelm Kandler and Vincenc Morstadt. Later he focused on landscape painting, though his colors were sometimes criticized as unnatural. In 1858 he was named Inspector of the picture gallery for the Society of the Patriotic Friends of Art at Prague Castle. He also taught engraving at the Czech Technical University and, from 1869 to 1871, taught perspective at the Academy. In 1873 Count Thun von Děčín hired him as an appraiser of paintings and engravings. Würbs never married and died in Prague on 6 July 1876, aged 69.