Johann Christoph Liska
Czech, 1650-1712
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Jan Kryštof Liška (German: Johann Christoph Lischka) was a Czech Baroque painter. His works mainly included altarpieces and frescoes.
Born in Wrocław (Breslau), Silesia, into a noble family of Moravian knights. After his father died, his mother Helena remarried and he became stepson to German painter Michael Willmann. Young Liška with his stepfather formed a close relationship and cooperation between the Liška and Wilmann families was maintained for years. Willmann enabled him to complete a study tour of Italy between 1674–1680.
Since 1689 Liška worked mainly, besides his native Silesia, in Bohemia proper – especially in Prague although there he had lifelong disputes with local artist's guild, while he lived in the shadow of his famous stepfather (thus sometimes nicknamed "Willmann, Jr."). When his stepfather died in 1706, his studio in the Cistercian Lubiąż Abbey (Silesia) initial went to his son. But because Willmann's son died only one year later, the studio then went to Liška, who then managed it until 1712. For the rest of his life he obtained contracts from the monastery together with some other Silesian Cistercian monasteries.
He died on 23 August 1712 in Lubiąż (Leubus).
