Platnéřská Lane

Painter Zdenka Braunerová (1858-1934) belongs to the first generation of female painters in Bohemia who gained experience from their stays in the European art centres. She acquired her early education in the art classes of the Girls’ Secondary School, which focused exclusively on drawing. Braunerová only became interested in graphic art as a mature painter, after gaining much experience abroad and returning from France to Bohemia. In 1899, she used the services of the versatile graphic artist Eduard Karel, one of the first much in-demand Czech graphic art teachers. She sought to master the etching technique, which she saw as the best tool to express the charm of disappearing old Prague, one of leitmotifs of her work. Braunerová made her graphic debut with Platnéřská Lane in 1899-1900, which became the first Czech etching reproduced in the international publication Studio (1903).