Here is a translation of the text: "Anniversary of the life (65th birthday) of such a kind and likable artist sets our memories well back – to the end of the 1880s – when the very young artist Oliva began to help with artistic decoration of Czech books with such an elegance and charm, that he soon became one of the most famous Czech illustrators up there with Luděk Marold, for example. Oliva did illustrations for several books of Svatopluk Čech, Jan Neruda, Karel Václav Rais, Václav Beneš Třebízský, Kronbauer – those were published for almost two decades with his illustrations. As a landscape and figure artist, huge canvases of Oliva hang in Café Slavia, the walls of buildings on Slavia Island, and Měšťanská Beseda in Plzeň. He died on 5 April 1928 in Prague and was buried in Olšany Cemetery in an area for famous artists. Opinions from the art world of the early 21st century According to an annotation from what is most likely the Troja Castle gallery in Prague: "The youngest artist at Troja is Viktor Oliva. He was primarily a graphic artist. His dust covers, book bindings and posters are among the best examples of Czech applied graphic art of the 1890s. In addition, however, he painted several ceilings and decorations for a number of Prague cafes. The entire work bespeaks the influence of French fin de siecle art, which is also a characteristic of Oliva's portraits." According to the catalog of Czech art auction house Meissner-Neumann: "Czech painter and illustrator, he studied under F. Sequens at the Academy of Art in Prague, then in Munich and Paris. He was influenced by the work of his friend L. Marold. He created chiefly portraits and large-scale paintings following the historicizing stream in art. His portraits and large number of illustrations for books by Czech and European authors as well as his poster designs testify to the contemporary life style based on the Art Nouveau style." Notable friends Mikoláš Aleš, artist Jakub Arbes. artist Josef Kořenský, world traveler for whom Oliva illustrated books Luděk Marold, artist Karel Vítězslav Mašek, artist References External links 1861 births 1928 deaths People from Rakovník District People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech painters Czech male painters Czech illustrators Art Nouveau painters Art Nouveau illustrators Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni