Two anniversaries - one hundred years since the birth of Mirko Hanák and fifty years since his untimely passing - inspired us to recall the body of twelve watercolors from the GAVU Cheb collection as part of the “exhibitions from the depository” cycle. Hanák is one of the Czech illustrators of world renown, proved by the number of foreign awards and books with his illustrations published abroad in foreign-language editions. To this day, his pictures fascinate with their utmost accuracy and, at the same time, an impressive artistic rendition of motifs. Hanák’s main field of interest was animals and Nature, from adventure fiction and prose on natural subjects to children’s books. He had a faultless visual memory, allowing him to work exclusively in the studio. It was, besides other things, necessary because of the technique he used: watercolor requires total concentration and a sure hand, which must be fast and precise. Hanák mastered this technique perfectly and developed an unmistakable style, strongly influenced by modern Chinese art.