Ludwig Vacátko was Czech painter who was active in the early 20th century and represented his country at the 1932 Olympics Art Competition and Exhibition held in the city of LA (USA). He loved the academic male nude and always paired it with the popular equestrian/warrior relaxing theme that was popular from the 1700s and reached its height of artistic expression from early 1800s up to the 1950s.
In those times, this type of painting style was very popular and loved by the masses. It showed the relaxing soldier or farmer taking the horse for a ride and normally a wash in a local body of water. Was common for groups of men to go together and go “skinny dipping,” or do nude swimming. Normally these outings were rites of male passage and acceptable bonding among men, with little homoerotic references by the larger population or even discrimination.
He also did male and female duos in academic styles too. This normally depicted a married couple or engaged lovers spending quiet time alone or sometimes with other couples. This was considered normal behavior for rural people, who were discreet and had intentions on marrying. Your great-grandparents weren’t as “uptight” as the cinema or some historians would have us believe.
This type of ideal for these Man & Woman art works, always had to revolve around love or love between married people. Or “soon to be married,” couple. Showing physically fit people too. The reason for the portrayal of healthy bodies was to touch both modern beliefs on marriage and fertility; and connecting with the idealism of the antiquity as portrayed by Greco-Roman art.
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