1887
Josef Jambor was born on the October 29 in Pohledec No. 26, near Nové Město na Moravě as the fifth child of Eleonora, born Šabartová (*18. 12. 1859 Studnice – †21. 2. 1953 Brno–Královo Pole) and Josef Jambor (*1856 Německé, today Sněžné – †29. 1. 1939 Brno–Královo Pole), a wheeler, cottager and cooper in the village of Pohledec.
Natal home of Josef Jambor, 2017, photo: Andrea Bratrů Velnerová | Natal home, 1915, watercolour, paper, 37,5 × 29,5 cm, Horácko Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě
Josef and Eleonora Jambor got married in 1880, and had twelve children, but seven of them died at an early age. Among those who reached a full age was Josef Jambor as the only son and four of his sisters: Eleonora, called Lenka (*14. 11. 1880 Pohledec – †14. 2. 1953 Brno, married Pecharová), Emilie, called Mila (*16. 5. 1889 Pohledec – †9. 1. 1979 Brno, married Vondrušková), Anežka (*22. 1. 1891 Pohledec – †24. 11. 1970 Brno, unwed – Jamborová) and Marie (*23. 4. 1899 Nové Město – †1986 Klatovy, married Hammerschlagová). His parents sold his native house in Pohledec in 1895, afterwards they and their children lived for several years in lodging flats.
1894‒1898
Attended basic school in Nové Město na Moravě.
Class register of the 4th class at the Nové Město na Moravě primary school, school year 1897/1898; State District Archive Žďár nad Sázavou
1898‒1908
Studied at the Czech Grammar School in Nové Město na Moravě.
School report from the first semester of the second class of the Realschule in Nové Město na Moravě, school year 1899/1900; family archive | School report from the second semester of the second class of the Realschule in Nové Město na Moravě, school year 1899/1900; family archive
Woman walking in an avenue, 1907, watercolour on cardboard, 40 × 28 cm, Horácko Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě | Road, 1908, pen on paper, 28 × 23.6 cm, Horácko Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě
1908–1911
Attended a geodesy course and cultural engineering studies (a melioration and water structures) at the Czech Technical University in Brno; political activities and support for the Czech schooling benefit foundation.
Enrolment to the first year of study, Czech technical University, 1908/1909, BUT Brno Archive | Josef Jambor’s notebook with records of collected contributions for the purchase of bricks for the establishment and construction of St. Čech’s Czech school, 1909, Academic Section for South-Western Moravia, family archive | Enrolment to the third year of study, Czech technical University, specialisation on cultural engineering, 1910/1911, BUT Brno Archive
Old Brno, 29 November, 1910, watercolour on paper, 19.5 × 28 cm, Moravian Gallery in Brno
1913
Josef Jambor with friends, 1913, family archive
1914
In February travelled to Serbia, Bosnia and Dalmatia; met Jan Štursa in Nové Město na Moravě during his holidays; Jan Štursa, at that time rector at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, supported Jambor‘s desire to study art at the Prague Academy.
Postcard with instructions for the Academy of Fine Arts students, Prague, 1914, family archive | Postcard sent by Jambor from Prague, 1915, Horácko Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě
1914
Studied the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, where he attended a preparation course with professor Josef Loukota, figural painting with professor Vlaho Bukovac and printmaking and landscape painting with professor Max Švabinský.
1917
Married Josefa, born Markalousová (*19. 10. 1893 Praha ‒ †24. 6. 1967 Lanškroun) in Prague, their son Josef was born on July 14, 1918 in Prague.
Wedding with Josefa Markalousová in Prague, 1917, family archive
1919
On 5July Josef Jambor graduated from the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, and subsequently made a study trip to Košice in Slovakia.
1920
July – August: took part in the Výstava horáckých umělců (Exhibition of Horácko Artists) in Nové Město na Moravě, held in the grammar school ceremonial hall within a convention of the school professors and graduates.
Jambor’s son Josef, two years old, Prague 1920, watercolour and pencil on cardboard, 32.5 × 24 cm, private collection | Criticism during a visit to the studio, Prague 1920, charcoal on paper, 21.5 × 17.8 cm, Horácko Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě
1921
A joint exhibition with Slovak modernist Konštantín Bauer (*1893 Slovenská Ľupča – †1928 Košice) at the Východoslovenské múzeum (Museum of Eastern Slovakia) in Košice.
1923
June – July: study trip to Germany – Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, Hannover; August – September: study trip to Holland – Delft, Amsterdam, Zaandam, The Hague.
Dutch motif, 1923, oil on cardboard, 33.5 × 48 cm, private collection
1925
April – May study trip to Italy – Rovereto, Lago di Garda, Pisa, Rome, Naples, Milan, San Marco, Torbole, Bologna, Padua, Genoa, Verona, Florence and Venice. Works from his study trips were exhibited at the Výstava výtvarníků – krajanů Horácka, July 5 – August 10 at the ceremonial hall of the grammar school in Nové Město na Moravě.
In the same year his wife Josefa (called Žofa) opened an art studio for the production of Persian carpets with Jaromír Juren, whom she married six years later (November 11, 1931) after her divorce with Josef Jambor (October 4, 1930).
Stromovka, 1925, oil on cardboard, 70 × 100 cm, Horácko Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
Jamborův zápisník z cesty do Itálie, 1925
1926
Jambor’s daughter Alena was born on 6 December in Prague. He became a member of the SVUM – Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských (Association of Moravian Visual Artists) in Hodonín.
1927
His paintings were shown within the Podhorácká výstava v Tišnově (Podhorácko Exhibition in Tišnov); there he met Božena Chlupová, who later became his second wife (August 25, 1931). Moved with his son Josef to Nové Město na Moravě, where they lived together in the hotels Panský dům and Turistická chata na Harusáku..
1928
His paintings were included in the Výstava soudobé kultury v Československu (Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in Czechoslovakia), at the Brno Trade Fair Exhibition Centre; the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs bought one of his paintings, Tání na Českomoravské vysočině. In the same year another of his paintings, Pohled z Harusovce k Novému Městu na Moravě, was given as an official gift of Nové Město na Moravě town representatives to President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk during his visit to town.
1929
Participated in a plein-air workshop with the SVUM members in Moravian Wallachia; painted views of Rožnov pod Radhoštěm, Horní Bečva, Hutisko and Soláň.
Vincenc Makovský, Portrait of Josef Jambor, 1929, drawing in pencil on paper, 62 × 50 cm, Vincenc Makovský Grammar School in Nové Město na Moravě | Jan Znoj, Josef Jambor, caricature,1929, lithograph, 15 × 8,5 cm, private collection
1930
Divorce with Josefa Jamborová in Prague on 4 October.
1931
Married Božena Chlupová (*30. 12. 1898 Tišnov ‒ †9. 12. 1972 Tišnov), a milliner in Tišnov, on 25 August, and moved with his son Josef to her house in Šafaříkova (later Brněnská) street No. 8 (later No. 475). Later his daughter Alena joined the family of her father too, moving from Velké Opatovice, where she had stayed with her mother, to live in Tišnov with her father, her step-mother Božena and her brother Josef.
Božena Chlupová, second wife of Josef Jambor, 1931, wedding photograph, family archive | Josef Jambor with daughter Alenka, 1932, family archive
1935‒1936
Participated in a plein-air workshop in Slovakia, where he painted several monumental views on the High Tatras and the village of Batizovce under the Tatras.
1939
Carried out a first reconstruction of the house in Brněnská No. 475, building his painter’s studio according to a design by architect Vratislav Vrzal.
1940
On 30 May Jambor received the Award of the Moravian-Silesian Provincial Committee in Brno for his painting Krajina z Českomoravské vysočiny.
1941
Bought a cottage it the village of Blatiny, settlement called U Háje, and since then he mostly lived and worked there from spring to autumn.
1942
Elected Chairman of the SVUM in Hodonín, served in this function till 1945.
1943
Jambor’s daughter Alena, around 1943, family archive | Josef Jambor in his studio in Tišnov, 25 June, 1943, family archive
Josef Jambor with hotel owner and manager Josef Rýdl, around 1945, family archive
1946
Elected Vice-Chairman of the Blok Union of Creative Artists of the Moravian-Silesian Province in Brno, member of its exhibition committees.
1947
Second reconstruction of the house in Brněnská No. 475 in Tišnov. Named honorary citizen of Blatiny on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
Vysočina landscape painters in Rýdl Hotel (today Záložna) in Německé (today Sněžné). From the left: František Cína Jelínek, Božena Jamborová, Emanuel Ranný, Ota Bubeníček, Rudolf Hanych and Josef Jambor, 1947, Jan Lacina’s archive
1948
Elected Vice-Chairman of the SVUM in Hodonín; became member of the Czechoslovak Union of Fine Artists in Prague.
1951
Josef Jambor in Blatiny, around 1950, family archive
Josef Jambor and his sisters at the funeral of their mother Eleanora in Brno-Královo Pole, 1953, family archive
1955
Elected Chairman of the SVUM in Hodonín.
1957
On 23 October, named honorary citizen of Tišnov on the occasion of his 70th birthday.
1958
Received the Antonín Procházka Award on 4 May.
1959
A comprehensive exhibition of his work was held at the House of Arts in Brno from 5 April ‒10 May; the introductory essay for the catalogue was written by Jiří Šetlík.
Photographic portraits of Josef Jambor, around 1960, Archive of Podhorácko Museum in Předklášteří, branch of the Museum of the Brno Region
1962
Received the title Artist of Merit on 25 October in the Janáček Opera House in Brno; the ceremonious speech was given by art historian Karel Krejčí, a curator of the Moravian Gallery in Brno.
1963
Fell seriously ill and had to spend a therapeutic treatment in the sanatorium of Babice in the Svratka River valley near Brno, where he created a series of some 90 pencil drawings and several watercolours as his end-of-life art message on the beauty of nature and his love for it.
1964
Took part in the opening of the Horácká galerie (Horácko Gallery) in Nové Město na Moravě on 24 July. Together with painter Bohdan Lacina donated his works to the newly established art museum to serve as the basis of its collection.
Josef Jambor died in Tišnov on 17 September 1964, surrounded by his family.
Josef Jambor at the official opening of the newly established Horácko Gallery in Nové Město na Moravě, 26 July, 1964, family archive