Born in Paris France, Emil Kosa Jr. was a prolific and much recognized painter of California landscapes, cityscapes, figures and florals. He was the son of a Czechoslovakian artist and came to the United States in 1907. As a teenager, he returned to Europe to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In the late 1920s, he settled a home and studio in Los Angeles and studied and taught at the Otis and Chouinard Art Institutes. In the 1930s, he began a thirty-five year career as a special effects artist for Twentieth Century Fox studios, and in 1964, won an Oscar for Cleopatra. He continually remained active as a watercolor painter, helping create the "California Style", devoted to watercolor painting of regional subjects. HE was also very active in the Laguna Beach art community as a teacher. He was an elected member of the National Academy of Design.