The exhibition Czech Cubism at the House of the Black Mother of God is open
On Thursday, December 3rd, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague will open a new exhibition that presents Czech cubism as a style ideologically connecting fine and applied arts, as well as architecture. The exhibition includes collections and solo pieces of furniture, interior accessories made of ceramics, glass, and metals, wallpapers, poster art, or book graphics. Notable architects and designers are represented, such as Pavel Janák, Josef Gočár, Josef Chochol, Vlastislav Hofman, Otakar Novotný, and František Kysela. Their works are complemented by a selection of cubist paintings by authors Emil Filla, Bohumil Kubišta, Josef Čapek, Václav Špála, and sculptures by Otto Gutfreund.
The museum was prepared to open the new exhibition in the house "U Černé Matky Boží" as early as October 2012, when the National Gallery vacated the premises. Since then, negotiations have been ongoing in the State Culture Fund about the further use of this national cultural monument. "I am very pleased that the long negotiations have led to a goal and that today we can open the exhibition, albeit with a slight delay. It is a unique opportunity to present the cubist objects from our collections collectively in an authentic environment," says the director of UPM, Helena Koenigsmarková. The museum has rented the exhibition spaces for eight years with the possibility of extending the lease. In addition to the long-term exhibition, temporary exhibitions and educational programs will take place in the house "U Černé Matky Boží." During the closure of the main museum building for renovation, this is another opportunity to make at least part of the rich collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts available to the public alongside the Secession exhibition at the Municipal House.
The exhibition itself is located on two floors. It is divided by themes that approach cubism as a thought movement unifying fine and applied arts, but it also emphasizes the specifics of individual fields (architecture, furniture design) and the wide variability of their expressions. It proceeds from the ideological definition of style and the issues of the form of the artistic work through the history of institutions associated with Czech cubism to inspiration sources and transformations of cubism after World War I. A key exhibit is a collection of furniture by Josef Gočár, originally intended for his own dining room, which was displayed at the international exhibition of the German association Werkbund in Cologne in 1914, or the striking and probably the most successful functional interior design that Josef Gočár designed for the National Theater actor Otto Boleška in 1913. The exhibition also features no less significant paintings and sculptures, such as the iconic cubist work, the sculpture Anxiety by Otto Gutfreund, which was the central exhibit of the installation at the 1st exhibition of the Group of Visual Artists in 1912. This sculpture, along with paintings by Emil Filla and Bohumil Kubišta, impressively introduces the new exhibition. The installation is complemented by a projection of designs and realizations of predominantly Prague cubist architecture. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, a printed guide in Czech and English will be published alongside the exhibition.
In the so-called active zone, it is possible to try sitting on replicas of cubist chairs. Worksheets Ordinary Chair or Museum Exhibit? invite visitors to explore seating furniture from unusual perspectives. UPM has also prepared a map "A Walk through Prague's Cubist Architecture," which is available in printed form or can be downloaded from the new website www.czkubismus.cz.
A rich accompanying program for the public includes a cycle of guided tours and thematically focused lectures. From March 2016, educational programs for schools will be held, created in collaboration with the departments of art education and history at the Faculty of Education of Charles University in Prague, which build on the framework educational programs of individual school levels.
From January 2016, the exhibition will be expanded with self-service tablets featuring a timeline, profiles of personalities of Czech cubism, examples of contemporary critiques and caricatures, archival photographs from exhibitions of the Group of Visual Artists, and the production of Prague Art Workshops and the Artěl cooperative.
The first of a series of temporary exhibitions that will complement the exhibition will be opened by UPM in the spring of next year. Cubist interiors and exteriors captured in photographs by Josef Sudek will be presented.
On Thursday, December 3rd, 2015, entry will be free for all visitors!
The museum was prepared to open the new exhibition in the house "U Černé Matky Boží" as early as October 2012, when the National Gallery vacated the premises. Since then, negotiations have been ongoing in the State Culture Fund about the further use of this national cultural monument. "I am very pleased that the long negotiations have led to a goal and that today we can open the exhibition, albeit with a slight delay. It is a unique opportunity to present the cubist objects from our collections collectively in an authentic environment," says the director of UPM, Helena Koenigsmarková. The museum has rented the exhibition spaces for eight years with the possibility of extending the lease. In addition to the long-term exhibition, temporary exhibitions and educational programs will take place in the house "U Černé Matky Boží." During the closure of the main museum building for renovation, this is another opportunity to make at least part of the rich collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts available to the public alongside the Secession exhibition at the Municipal House.
The exhibition itself is located on two floors. It is divided by themes that approach cubism as a thought movement unifying fine and applied arts, but it also emphasizes the specifics of individual fields (architecture, furniture design) and the wide variability of their expressions. It proceeds from the ideological definition of style and the issues of the form of the artistic work through the history of institutions associated with Czech cubism to inspiration sources and transformations of cubism after World War I. A key exhibit is a collection of furniture by Josef Gočár, originally intended for his own dining room, which was displayed at the international exhibition of the German association Werkbund in Cologne in 1914, or the striking and probably the most successful functional interior design that Josef Gočár designed for the National Theater actor Otto Boleška in 1913. The exhibition also features no less significant paintings and sculptures, such as the iconic cubist work, the sculpture Anxiety by Otto Gutfreund, which was the central exhibit of the installation at the 1st exhibition of the Group of Visual Artists in 1912. This sculpture, along with paintings by Emil Filla and Bohumil Kubišta, impressively introduces the new exhibition. The installation is complemented by a projection of designs and realizations of predominantly Prague cubist architecture. With the support of the Ministry of Culture, a printed guide in Czech and English will be published alongside the exhibition.
In the so-called active zone, it is possible to try sitting on replicas of cubist chairs. Worksheets Ordinary Chair or Museum Exhibit? invite visitors to explore seating furniture from unusual perspectives. UPM has also prepared a map "A Walk through Prague's Cubist Architecture," which is available in printed form or can be downloaded from the new website www.czkubismus.cz.
A rich accompanying program for the public includes a cycle of guided tours and thematically focused lectures. From March 2016, educational programs for schools will be held, created in collaboration with the departments of art education and history at the Faculty of Education of Charles University in Prague, which build on the framework educational programs of individual school levels.
From January 2016, the exhibition will be expanded with self-service tablets featuring a timeline, profiles of personalities of Czech cubism, examples of contemporary critiques and caricatures, archival photographs from exhibitions of the Group of Visual Artists, and the production of Prague Art Workshops and the Artěl cooperative.
The first of a series of temporary exhibitions that will complement the exhibition will be opened by UPM in the spring of next year. Cubist interiors and exteriors captured in photographs by Josef Sudek will be presented.
On Thursday, December 3rd, 2015, entry will be free for all visitors!
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