Jan Zach (1914-1986) - Boy In Hat - Oil on Canvas c 1940s P2921

Art measures 15" x 18", frame 17" x 20".

A Czech-American, Jan Zach became a much respected sculptor of large-scale wood and metal works, and for several decades was professor of art on the faculty of the University of Oregon.  He also was noted for his drawings.  In January through March, 2003, a major retrospective of his work was held at the Hallie Ford Museum at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

Jan Zach was born in Slany, Czechoslovakia, and was trained in Prague as a decorator and painter during the 1930s.  In 1938, he came to the United States to work on the Czech Pavilion at the New York World's Fair, and never returned to his native country because of World War II.  In 1940, he settled in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, where he remained for the next eleven years.

He married in 1951, and he and his wife, Judith, moved to Victoria, British Columbia, which was her home, and seven years later, encouraged by Mark Sponerburgh, joined the art faculty of the University of Oregon.  "Over the next 21 years, Zach emerged as an important teacher and mentor and trained several generations of sculptors, many of whom are still active in the region."


Source:
http://blog.willamette.edu/news/archives/2003/01/intersections_t.php  (Willamette University)