Emil Kosa Jr.

Emil Kosa Jr. was an American painter of Czech origin, born in Paris in 1903 and died in 1968. He is best remembered as a prominent member of the California Scene Painting movement, but he also served for more than three decades as art director of the special effects department at 20th Century Pictures, where he won an Academy Award.

The son of the Czech artist Emil Kosa Sr., he trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague before emigrating to the United States in 1921. He became a naturalized American citizen in 1927 and spent a year in Paris studying at the École des Beaux-Arts. Back in California, he worked as a mural painter and designer for architects and decorating firms, and he painted mainly California landscapes and urban scenes in oil and watercolor. His work was widely exhibited from the 1930s, with solo shows at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

In 1933 he joined the newly formed special effects department at 20th Century Fox and was soon promoted to art director. He won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Cleopatra. His legacy is linked both to regional Californian painting and to his long career in film.