Emil Artur Pittermann – Longen

1885 Pardubice - 1936 Benešov

In addition to being a painter and a stage designer, Emil Artur Pittermann–Longen was also a cabaret artist, a script writer and writer of books. The name Artur Longen was a pseudonym suggested by the painter Emil Filla, and the artist used it from 1910 onwards. After leaving the grammar school in Benešov he continued at the Academy of Visual Arts in Prague (1902-1906/7) and during his studies frequently journeyed through Italy, Germany, Dalmatia and France. He took part in the initial activities of the Osma artists’ group. At the first exhibition of the Osma, his works were hidden in a niche behind a curtain as, being still a student, he was not allowed to exhibit. However, he soon parted company with the group and influenced by his wife, the actress Polyxena Marková, Longen devoted himself to the theatre, only returning to painting sporadically. At the beginning of the 1920’s and after 1926 he painted in the Šumava mountains. He initially preferred theatre design but later moved onto design work for films. He worked for the National Theatre in Ljubljana, in Berlin he set up an avant-garde theatre and in 1923 worked in Brno. His collaboration with the famous Czech comedian Vlasta Burian culminated in the book Král komiků (1927) and the film comedy C. K. polní maršálek (1929).

Author's objects in collections