Living and studying in Prague had a great influence on the work of the Maribor painter Ivan Kos. Under the mentorship of professor Vlaho Bukovac at the general painting school, Kos’ main medium became pencil on paper, as he lacked the funds to buy more expensive materials. Kos became acquainted with the watercolour technique while walking and conversing with his good friend and excellent watercolourist Ante Trstenjak, with whom he painted in Prague. It became Kos’ preferred technique to paint landscapes. The landscapes and vedutas from his student period, inspired by the magical streets of Prague, are distinguished by their soft diffused transitions, resulting from painting on a wet base. Kos never abandoned landscapes as his motif. An Upward Path shows a view of the hill with a couple of houses and trees on its top that stand out. The grassy surface takes up most of the space, and the intensifying shades of green create an additional feel of climbing. The hilly landscape is typical of the Slovenske gorice region from which the author comes.
(Lejla Kruško, in the framework of the Creative Path to Knowledge project, Virtual Legends; The investment is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Social Fund)
