The Bílkova Villa will reopen in Hradčany after reconstruction with a new exhibition

Prague - After more than six months of reconstruction, Bílkova Vila in Prague's Hradčany district will reopen to visitors on Tuesday. The unusual building was constructed by sculptor and graphic artist František Bílek (1872 to 1941) according to his own plans and today serves to showcase his work. During the last reconstruction, non-original elements created during previous installations were removed from the house.

"The reconstruction aimed to restore the atmosphere of the spaces as Bílek himself designed and complemented them with metal and ceramic elements," said exhibition curator Martin Krummholz to journalists today. According to him, the intention behind creating the new exhibition was also to arrange the exhibits in such a way that each space would be specific and represent a theme of his work.

"The new permanent exhibition is being created in connection with the new exhibition of Bílek's house in Chýnov, which should represent the second half of his work. In Prague, there are monumental works and the beginning of his creativity, whereas in Chýnov we tried to install the second part of his work and emphasize historical issues," Krummholz stated.

Since the 1960s, Bílkova Vila has been managed by the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague. In the permanent exhibition, alongside the original interior furnishings, Bílek's works from his peak creative period are presented.

Bílek was primarily a sculptor and graphic artist, but his religious conception of art led him to the need to create entire environments in which his works could function in a multifaceted way.

According to Bílek, the Prague villa was meant to express: "Life as a field full of ripe ears, providing nourishment to brothers every day. Many ears bound in sheaves - a column. Some of the columns unfinished because they bear nothing." The segmented floor plan of the building can be read as a trace of a scythe harvesting grain. The shape of the columns also resembles ancient Egyptian temple architecture. Exposed brick and roughly worked stone bring the work closer to nature and human labor. The irregularly shaped interior is dominated by a high studio, serving as a natural working and spiritual center of the building.

Bílek's work has been shaped from the beginning by deep piety; besides biblical themes, he was also interested in national history and the ideas of Czech religious reformers. One of the central themes, for example, was the figure of Master Jan Hus. The friendship with painter Zdenka Brauner and poets Julius Zeyer, Jakub Deml, and particularly with Otokar Březina, who Bílek often illustrated with his art, also had a significant influence on his work.

The exhibition in the attic of the villa commemorates Bílek's friendship and collaboration with Březina, where visitors can also see a design for Bílek's monumental National Monument from 1908, intended for Bílá Hora, symbolizing the rise and fall of the Czech nation. In the exhibition at Bílkova Vila, alongside individual sculptures and drawings with typical vertical silhouettes and pathetic gestures, visitors will also see the design for the Prague Hus Monument from 1901.