Jaroslav František Julius Věšín (23 May 18609 May 1915) was a Czech painter who mainly worked in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

 and who was noted as a master of genre painting

Genre painting

Genre works, also called genre scenes or genre views, are pictorial representations in any of various media that represent scenes or events from everyday life, such as markets, domestic settings, interiors, parties, inn scenes, and street scenes. Such representations may be realistic, imagined, or...

. The realistic depiction of battle scenes from the First Balkan War

First Balkan War

The First Balkan War, which lasted from October 1912 to May 1913, pitted the Balkan League against the Ottoman Empire. The combined armies of the Balkan states overcame the numerically inferior and strategically disadvantaged Ottoman armies and achieved rapid success...

 (1912) are the subject of a substantial part of his work.

Věšín was born in the town of Vraný

Vraný

Vraný is a market town and municipality in Kladno District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. The municipality covers an area of 17 km² and as of 2007 it had a population of 791.-References:...

 in what is today Kladno District

Kladno District

The Kladno District is a district within the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic...

 of the Central Bohemian Region

Central Bohemian Region

Central Bohemian Region is an administrative unit of the Czech Republic, located in the central part of its historical region of Bohemia. Its administrative center is placed in the Czech capital Prague , which lies in the center of the region...

. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague

Academy of Fine Arts in Prague

The Academy of Fine Arts, Prague was founded in 1799 and is the Czech Republic's oldest art college. The school offers twelve Master's degree programs and one Doctoral program.-History:...

, but moved to the Academy of Fine Arts Munich in 1881 and graduated in 1883. Afterwards he worked in Munich

Munich

Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...

 and in Slovakia

Slovakia

The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...

, with his paintings of the period mainly related to Slovak

Slovaks

The Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...

 village life. Věšín arrived in Bulgaria in 1897 and remained there for the remainder of his life. Until 1904, he was a professor at the National Academy of Fine Arts in Sofia

Sofia

Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria and the 12th largest city in the European Union with a population of 1.27 million people. It is located in western Bulgaria, at the foot of Mount Vitosha and approximately at the centre of the Balkan Peninsula.Prehistoric settlements were excavated...

 and mainly worked in the area of genre painting, with notable paintings such as Threshing near Radomir

Radomir

Radomir is a town in the Pernik Province of Bulgaria with a population of about 16,503. It is located at .- History :The town was first mentioned in a 15th-century source as Uradmur. The current form appears for the first time in a source from 1488...

(1897), Ploughman (or Land, 1899), Horse market in Sofia (1899), Smugglers (1899), In front of a market (1899), Threshing (1900), etc. The main topic of his interest was the life and labour of the Bulgarian villager.

After 1904, Věšín became the head painter with the Ministry of War

Ministry of Defence (Bulgaria)

The Ministry of Defence of Bulgaria is the ministry charged with regulating the Military of Bulgaria.Since August 2005 , Minister of Defence was Veselin Bliznakov of the National Movement Simeon II, with Deputy Ministers Ivan Ivanov, Radoslav Bozadzhiev, Simeon Nikolov, Sonya Yankulova and Spas...

 and, although he did not abandon his old interests (with works such as Coaler (1910), Lumberjacks (1910), On the game's track (1910), Hunter with hounds (1911), etc.), he became famous with his masterpieces of battle painting: Manoeuvres (series began in 1899 and lasted until the Balkan Wars

Balkan Wars

The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans in south-eastern Europe in 1912 and 1913.By the early 20th century, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia, the countries of the Balkan League, had achieved their independence from the Ottoman Empire, but large parts of their ethnic...

, The Samara flag

Samara flag

The Samara flag is one of the most important military symbols of the Bulgarian Army. Sewed by local nuns and given to the Bulgarian volunteers in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78 by the citizens of the Russian city of Samara on 18 May 1877, it became famous when it was heroically prevented from...

(1911), Onslaught (or Bayonet charge, 1913), The Turkish retreat at Lüleburgaz

Lüleburgaz

Lüleburgaz, is a town and district of Kırklareli Province in the Marmara region of Turkey.-Facts:The city has a population of 100,412 and is the largest town in Kırklareli Province....

(1913), Lüleburgaz-Çatalca

Çatalca

Çatalca is a city and a rural district in Istanbul, Turkey. It is in Thrace, on the ridge between the Marmara and the Black Sea. Most people living in Çatalca are either farmers or those visiting vacation homes. Many families from Istanbul come to Çatalca during weekends to hike in the forests or...

(1913) and a series of sketches and complete works on the siege of Edirne

Battle of Adrianople (1913)

The Battle or Siege of Adrianople or Siege of Edirne was fought during the First Balkan War, beginning in mid-November 1912 and ending on 26 March 1913 with the capture of Edirne by the Bulgarian 2nd Army....

, among which Bibouac in front of Edirne (1913), Resting after 13 March 1913 (1913), etc.

Many of his works are displayed in the National Museum of Fine Arts

National Art Gallery (Bulgaria)

The National Art Gallery is Bulgaria's national gallery and houses over 50,000 pieces of Bulgarian art. It is located on Battenberg Square in the capital city of Sofia, occupying most of the historic and imposing edifice of the former royal palace of Bulgaria, having been established in 1934 and...

 in Sofia. Among Věšín's students were Nikola Petrov

Nikola Petrov

Nikola Petrov was a Bulgarian terrorist. He was a member of the BCP. He was one of the main players in the St Nedelya Church assault. He was the one who lit the cord in order to detonate the bomb planted earlier in the church....

, Atanas Mihov and other major Bulgarian painters.