The name of Jan Vochoč (March 23, 1865 – March 20, 1920) does not particularly stand out in major art bibliographies or artistic bibliophilias. The complicated journey of the painter's life is closely linked to Prague, though his traces can also be found in the Balkans, as well as in Munich and Paris. Vochoč studied at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts and, from 1883, in Munich, where he was one of the first students of Professor Nicolaos Gyzis at the Academy of Fine Arts. This was followed by a challenging life experience in Bulgarian and Greek territories, and he even managed to reach the then-closed monastic community on Mount Athos. Although he adopted the monk's habit there, he primarily painted, and his large canvases from the Athos monasteries were later exhibited at his largest solo exhibition at the National House in Prague (in the Royal Vinohrady district) in 1901.
Jan Vochoč was a highly skilled portraitist and landscape painter. During his studies in Munich, he drew from academic realism and the realistic depiction of landscapes, and due to his skill, he is said to have worked in his professors' workshops or as a copyist. Due to the absence of Vochoč's works from this period, the exhibition at OGL – GLL will feature works by his contemporaries from his time at the Munich Academy, or young Czech artists in Munich from the artistic group Škréta of the 1880s. The purpose of the group was to organize exhibitions, lectures, and debates, as well as to foster connections with Slavic academics who also studied in Munich. The group maintained regular contact with their homeland and published a hand-copied weekly that circulated as a single copy in two separate volumes: Špachtle and Paleta. Its members included E. Holárek, J. Úprka, Ant. Hudeček, V. Luňáček, L. Marold, K. V. Mašek, A. Němejc, V. Oliva, Fr. Ondrúšek, J. Schusser, Ant. Slavíček, and Alfons M. Mucha.
He had a very close friendship with Alfons Mucha, which began during their studies in Munich and later continued in Paris, where they worked together within the Parisian colony. The Parisian artistic environment, particularly the oscillating Neo-Impressionism, had a significant influence on him, and as one of the few Czech painters, he ventured into a style close to Pointillism. A grand, though posthumous, exhibition of his work was held in September 1926 at the Topič Salon. His works are scattered across Czech galleries and museums, mostly, however, in private collections. Vochoč's larger artistic legacy is also deposited in the Karásková Gallery (now the Memorial of National Literature – Museum of Literature).
The exhibition project of Vochoč's works, as well as samples of documents and personal variations, including works by Vochoč's friends – painters and colleagues from the Munich group Škréta – includes loans from private collectors as well as from significant Czech and Moravian galleries, including the one in Liberec. Vochoč's family legacy was brought to the Liberec region through his son Martin Jan Vochoč, a significant personality and Old Catholic clergyman in Jablonec nad Nisou. Today, his granddaughters, Jana and Irena Vochoč, are the primary supporters of their grandfather's legacy.
