Vincenc Morstadt

Vincenc Morstadt (17 April 1802 – 19 February 1875) was a painter, illustrator and lawyer from the Austrian Empire. He was mainly a landscape painter, vedutist and author of many graphic prints and albums.

Life
Morstadt was born on 17 April 1802 in Kolín. He was born to a family of German origin. His grandfather came from Baden, got married in Kolín, and after serving as a military surgeon in the Theresian army, he settled there. Vincenc's father was a baker and wine merchant in Kolín. At the age of eleven, Vincenc came to Prague to study at the Piarist gymnasium in New Town. He continued his studies at the Faculty of Law of Charles University. After his graduation in 1834–1850 he worked at the regional court in Loket. His earliest graphic works are of the landscape in this region - Loket, Karlovy Vary and the surrounding area, such as the Svatoš Rocks. Morstadt's drawings soon attracted the attention of editors of Prague magazines. First they were published in Hyllos, edited by Václav Radomil Kramer and Jan Hýbl, and later as separate sheets. He continued his clerical career at the courts in Trutnov and Hradec Králové. At the end of his life he lived in Prague on Tomášská Street in the Lesser Quarter. He maintained contacts with historians František Palacký, Václav Vladivoj Tomek and other leading patriots.

He died on 19 February 1875 in Prague, at the age of 72. Morstadtova Street in Prague is named in his honour.

Art
He specialised as a landscape painter and vedutist – he mainly captured important buildings, streets and public spaces of Czech towns and cities, and liked to fill them with various characters – burghers, craftsmen or merchants. Most of his works were created during his court practice, originally as pencil drawings, which he usually left to printmakers or lithographers to execute using etching and colouring techniques. Gradually these prints were combined into albums. From 1867 he devoted himself exclusively to painting.