Three questions for the curator of the Jindřich Chatrný exhibition

Jan Vaněk impacted a number of fields with his Renaissance approach. How can his main contribution be characterized?
Jindřich Chatrný: Vaněk encompassed the entire spectrum of home culture, which means that unlike his professional peers, he did not perceive interior design and its furnishings merely in the realm of the furniture itself. He saw it globally, as a whole, including home accessories – such as textiles, upholstery, tableware, glass, and of course, works of art. Naturally, this very closely related to a specific matter associated with the layout and the economics of the operation of the particular residential unit.
From today's perspective, it is also very important to realize where the roots of modular furniture lie, which has been extensively used since the 1950s and is now completely commonplace in our homes... And if we go against the flow of time, we will find that the first designer who came up with the idea that furniture can be connected was indeed Jan Vaněk, who invented so-called modular furniture. He promoted absolutely smooth forms that fit together perfectly. From the breadth of production, two basic elements emerged: a narrow cabinet in the secretary desk, which had a fold-out top that could be used as a writing desk when needed, and a narrow display case – a greenhouse.
Of course, we could also mention others: Vaněk was an excellent person in the field of advertising. Many of the principles that we observe today in corporate advertising strategies were successfully developed by him as early as the end of the 1920s within his company Standard Living Company. He focused on the company's visual style – whether it was the aggressive logo made up of the letters S.B.S. in a blue field or advertisements printed practically in all contemporary magazines, based on short annotations and photographs that showcased interiors designed mostly for famous personalities – writers, doctors, lawyers, philosophers...

Vaněk worked with a number of architects. Did any collaboration with one of them have an exceptional character?
J. Ch.: Today, it is absolutely incomprehensible that he himself did not attend a single professional school. Yet, he designed projects for houses in Montenegro and in Brno on Alšová Street... An absolutely incredible commission, which unfortunately could not be verified, is the complex of production and administrative buildings of the Association for Chemical and Metallurgical Production in Rybitví near Pardubice from 1938 to 1941. A completely unique matter where he adapted the buildings to the module of Baťa's Zlín architecture. It involved a pillar assembly and brickwork, yet Vaněk modified the module to a much larger scale than in Zlín: 90 x 20 meters. The construction technology remained exactly the same. It is unbelievable not only that they approached Vaněk but also the fact that he managed to draw up perfect project documentation...
However, returning to the question, a very intense collaboration that grew into a lifelong friendship is related to the Brno period. Vaněk began to work closely with the then star of the Brno functionalist scene, Bohuslav Fuchs. They first collaborated on the project for Fuchs's own house, on Doctor Kropáč's sanatorium, and many others. The pinnacle was, of course, the Avion hotel. Fuchs himself, in his correspondence, which is stored at our workplace (the Department of Architecture and Urbanism of the Museum of the City of Brno – editor's note), defines where the interiors were executed by him and where in collaboration with Jan Vaněk. And in this authentic document, the sentence is stated regarding the Avion hotel: Jan Vaněk completed the interiors and furnishings. This basically gives him authorship of all the furniture, home accessories... as well as their arrangement in the rooms.

Did you discover anything new and personally surprising during the preparation of the Prague reprise of the exhibition on the works of Jan Vaněk?
J. Ch.: After the Brno exhibition, there was a certain period when people began to come forward who had a certain relationship to Jan Vaněk. Either those who had interiors furnished with his period furniture or older generations who still remembered him. This led to the establishment of many contacts, for example, with the family of painter and graphic artist Petr Dillingera. Vaněk had been in contact with him for many years and created the interior of his Brno apartment for him. Thanks to the kindness of the family, we managed to acquire some items from Dillinger's apartment for the museum collections. For a long time, I was also looking for a specific crystal glass beverage set. Vaněk designed it in 1946 for Krásná jizba. We had never been able to find even a part of it in private or museum collections. Until a colleague happened to come across wine glasses from this set in a Brno thrift store... Thus, the preparations for the Prague exhibition were enriched by a number of new discoveries, including written documents and publications. Likewise, we commissioned models of Vaněk's furniture sets for greater clarity...


The exhibition runs until August 22, 2010, in the main building of the Museum of the Capital City of Prague, Na Poříčí 52, Prague 8

Exhibition Author — Jindřich Chatrný
Exhibition Curator — Maria Szadkowska
Architectural Solution — Jan Roháč, Bronislav Stratil
Graphical Solution of the Exhibition — Ondřej Zámiš
Models — Faculty of Architecture VUT in Brno, Institute of Furniture, Design and Housing of Mendel University in Brno