Josef Karel Hoser (1770 Ploskovice – 1848 Prague) was a leading figure in the cultural life of his day. During his lifetime, he amassed an extraordinary collection of Baroque art, which – four years before his death – he bequeathed to the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts that he had joined in 1838. Hoser’s generous donation comprised almost three hundred works of Flemish, Dutch and Central European art of the 17th and 18th centuries. A part of the gift included a large number of prints.
For the most part, these were works modelled on paintings housed in Hoser’s picture gallery. Another group comprised portraits of artists, whose paintings Josef Hoser had acquired for his collection. Initially, the members of the Society perceived drawing and printing techniques primarily as a part of academic education. Hoser’s gift was a landmark in the collectors’ approach to works on paper. One of the results of Hoser’s art patronage was the gradual development of the Society’s graphic art collection over the following years.
Curator: Dalibor Lešovský
*Cabinet of Prints and Drawings, Schwarzenberg Palace*
