7/2025 Jan Dědina – Ladies in Paris (1902)

The painting titled Ladies in Paris was created in 1902 using the watercolor technique by the prominent Czech academic painter, graphic artist, and illustrator Jan Dědina (September 1, 1870 – January 14, 1955).

Jan Dědina was born in the village of Straky in the Central Bohemian Region into a large family of farmer Jan Dědina and his wife, Kateřina. He studied painting at the School of Applied Arts in Prague under František Ženíšek and later continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied painting in the studio of Maxmilián Pirner and sculpture in the studio of Josef Václav Myslbek.

After completing his studies in 1893, he enlisted in the Austrian army, from which he defected via Italy to France in 1895. He settled in Paris and, in 1898, married the Frenchwoman Jeanne Marie Anceaux, with whom he had seven children.

He became a sought-after portraitist in the academic verism style of the Belle Époque and Art Nouveau periods. He mainly devoted himself to drawing and watercolor; his work is characterized by lightly painted or sketched portraits and figure studies. He also contributed illustrations to the Parisian magazine Le Monde illustré. He participated in the Paris Salons and collaborated with prominent artists such as Alfons Mucha, Auguste Rodin, Antoine Bourdelle, and Luděk Marold, thanks to whom he received his first commissions in Paris. He participated in the interior decoration of the Petit Palais exhibition pavilion near the Champs-Élysées, and also assisted with the interior decoration of the Comédie-Française theater building, located near the Louvre Museum.

He returned to Bohemia with his family after an amnesty was granted in 1909. They lived briefly in Nymburk before settling in Prague-Bubeneč. He became a member of the Association of Fine Artists and devoted himself to illustrating magazines such as Zlatá Praha, Světozor, and Ženské listy. He also illustrated books, often for Eduard Weinfurter’s publishing house. After the death of his wife Jeanne in 1943, he settled permanently in Tatobity in the Bohemian Paradise, where he owned a house with a studio and a large garden. The surrounding landscape became a major source of inspiration for many of his paintings.