Alois Hrdlička, Untitled, no date

Alois Hrdlička was an academic painter. He was born in Hranice, but was baptized as Alois Alexander Hrdlička in the parish church in Špičky as the illegitimate son of Anna Hrdličková from Bělotín. He was refused baptism by the local border parish for false information about his real mother. His real parents were Professor of the Artillery Academy P. Ulrych Josef Hájek and Antonie Konečná. From 1871 to 1874, Alois attended a real grammar school in Hranice and then went to Vienna on the recommendation of teacher Jan Pinkava, where he studied at the General School of Drawing. However, for material reasons, he had to leave his studies and worked as an assistant butcher. He managed to complete the Vienna Academy only in 1900. In the same year he went to the USA with his wife Maria. They settled there in New York, and Alois subsisted on painting decorations for theaters and portraiture and landscape painting. He successfully exhibited his works and drew special attention to himself with a la