Lectures for the Public Art Yesterday and Today are dedicated this time to the significant jubilee of UMPRUM, the 140th anniversary of its founding. The 38th cycle will focus on “Personalities from the History of UMPRUM.” The second lecture “The Tenacious Seeker of Truth Jan Kotěra” has been prepared and will be presented by the rector of UMPRUM, Prof. Jindřich Vybíral.  

Jan Kotěra, the founder of Czech modern architecture and long-time teacher at the School of Applied Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts, took from his teacher Otto Wagner the belief that a new form arises from a new purpose and new construction, but that it should also reflect the changing aesthetic standards. Therefore, his personal expression underwent similar transformations as the formal repertoire of other Wagnerian students – starting from academic historicism and international Art Nouveau, through early modern structural rationalism, to the final revival of classical tradition. The lecture seeks a common denominator in his architectural work.
The 38th lecture cycle has been prepared by Prof. Jindřich Vybíral.