Early influences
The Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo (1527-1593) was called to Prague in 1562 to serve Ferdinand I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, as portraitist to the imperial family. He subsequently enriched the famous art and curiosity cabinets of Emperors Maximilian II and Rudolf II. The fantastic paintings he produced for the cabinet of curiosities found admirers among the Surrealists. His self-portrait (watercolor and drawing on paper) can be seen in Prague's National Gallery (Národní Galerie), home to all the great European masters. Here we discover the portrait painter Petr Johannes Brandl (1668-1735). Famous in his time, he excelled in chiaroscuro techniques and dramatic compositions.
After the Italian contribution of the Renaissance, mainly in architecture, the 16th and 17th centuries were those of the Baroque. From the first half of the 17th century, Prague established itself as a center of Mannerism, a movement at the crossroads of the late Renaissance and the Baroque. The rise of Baroque, which originated in Italy, was encouraged by the aristocracy and the Catholic Church, which was the only one to be authorized after 1627. Sculptures and paintings were combined with architecture to adorn religious buildings. The painter Karel Škreta (1610-1674) created numerous Baroque altarpieces in Prague, particularly in the churches of St. Thomas, St. Stephen and theChurch of Our Lady of Týn.
Patriotic spirit
A founder of Czech national painting, Josef Mánes (1820-1871) learned the art of landscape painting from his father. After painting romantic outdoor landscapes, he joined the fashionable "National Renaissance" movement. This nationalist-inspired cultural movement aimed to repel German pressure from the Habsburgs and assert Czech identity. Josef Mánes created the first calendar painted on the clock of theTown Hall in Prague'sOld Town (a cycle of twelve idylls on the life of the Czech peasant). Most of his paintings, featuring Bohemian village and peasant scenes, both historical and mythological, retain a patriotic color. From 1846 onwards, folk art exerted an influence on his art, which became more national than ever.
The artist's two hundredth birthday was the occasion for numerous tributes, notably at Čechy pod Kosířem Castle in Central Moravia, where he drew his inspiration for many years.
The designer Mikoláš Aleš
His works bear witness to the Czech spirit of the 19th century. Mikoláš Aleš was born into a modest family in 1852 in Mirolie, South Bohemia. A precocious draughtsman, he studied in Prague from 1869 to 1875. His greatest teachers were the Czech painter Josef Mánes. He made friends with the most important writers and painters of his time, including the Bohemian Jakub Schikaneder and the Impressionist Antonin Chittussi (1847-1891). In 1878, he created a series of frescoes on the theme of the fatherland for the National Theatre in Prague. After a series of commissions and a trip to Italy, he lived through a decade of poverty, devoting himself to caricatures and illustrations. Residing in Prague, he founded the Mánes Artistic Circle in 1887, which spread avant-garde trends in Prague and Bohemia (Impressionism, Jugendstil and Secession, Expressionism, Cubism). It wasn't until 1900 that recognition finally came his way. His death in 1913 prompted a tribute from the Czech people. His frescoes can be admired in the Gothic church of St. Wenceslas in Strakonice, as well as on the Štorch house in Prague.
Art Nouveau: Alfons Mucha (1860-1939)
Painter, graphic designer, draughtsman, lithographer and poster artist, Mucha is one of the most famous representatives of Art Nouveau. Born in 1860 in what is now Ivančice (Moravia), his singing talents led him to join the Brno church choir. His first drawings illustrate religious themes(The Crucifixion); his encounter with the Baroque sacred-art painter Umlauf, who produced the paintings for the Usti church, had a profound effect on him. Rejected by the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, he began working on theater sets in Vienna. At the same time, he became a portrait painter. He studied in Munich, then Paris, where he met key figures in his career, such as Paul Sérusier. In Paris, the Armand Colin publishing house called on his talents as an illustrator. From this time onwards, he photographed his models and built up a catalog of characters from his era, particularly women.
His meeting with Sarah Bernhardt was to prove decisive. Thanks to the posters, jewelry and dresses he designed for the French actress, his work was exhibited in Paris, Munich, Brussels, London, Vienna and Prague from 1897 onwards. In Prague, paradoxically, his triumph was far from assured. The artist, who lived in France and then the United States, did not return to his homeland until 1910. He struggled to gain recognition for his painting, which was considered too similar to his models. Mucha is regarded as the artist who put the Czech Republic on the map across the Atlantic, taking pleasure in returning to innovate in his native land.
He was commissioned to build the Municipal House (Obecní Dům) in Prague, which monopolized the greatest artists. Here, he painted the frescoes in the Mayor's Hall, prior to the huge Slavic Epic cycle, which took him eighteen years to complete between 1910 and 1928. Both nationalist and symbolist, this series of twenty-three canvases retraces the major events in Slavic history. Here, Mucha realized his dream of putting his talent to work for his homeland. Far from Art Nouveau, these scenes call for unity in a style that is both realistic and fantastic. The future Savarin complex, due to open in 2026, will bring together these paintings, documented by studies, sketches and photographs, under the guidance of the artist's grandson. Indeed, Mucha had demanded that his 8 x 6 m works be given a dedicated space, preferably circular in the spirit of the panoramas of yesteryear. In the meantime, they can be admired at Moravský Krumlov Castle.
František Kupka and the avant-garde
František Kupka (1871-1957). The most renowned of Czech artists passed through all the stages of the evolution of art between the 19th and 20thcenturies, and laid the foundations for abstraction in painting. Born in 1871 in Opočno (Kingdom of Bohemia), he led an independent career, detached from the major currents of his time. For him, painting was above all about materials and colors, but also about innovation. Throughout his life, he refused to describe his work as "abstract", even though he placed himself among the pioneers of abstraction, along with Kandinsky and Mondrian. He enters the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, in the "sacred and historical painting" section. He then moved to Vienna, a city in the throes of intellectual and artistic ferment. In 1896, he settled in Montmartre, the bohemian district of Paris. He worked as an illustrator, then married Eugénie Straub in Puteaux, while maintaining close contact with Prague. The biblical illustrations he produced for the Czech patron Waldès were influenced by the Viennese Secession. 1910 was the year of his transition to non-figurative art. At the 1912 Paris Salon d'Automne, he was the first to present abstract canvases, now in the Kampa Museum in Prague. Founder with Delaunay of Orphic Cubism and its futuristic forms, his innovations made him a trailblazer for several generations of artists.
His contemporaries also included the members of the Group of Eight (Osma), who, between 1907 and 1911, drew their influences from Fauvism, the compositions of Bonnard, Van Gogh and Cézanne, and above all from the Expressionism of Edvard Munch and the Germans of Die Brücke. Several members of this group, such as Emil Filla, Otakar Kubín (Othon Coubine), Antonín Procházka and Bohumil Kubišta, would later embrace Cubism.
A painter of poetry and femininity, Toyen founded Czech Surrealism in 1934. Her paintings explore the depths of representation. Exiled to Paris in 1947, she joined the Surrealist group alongside André Breton.
Czech Illustrators
Many Czech artists are characterized by a remarkable sense of graphic design.
Josef Lada (1887-1957) created the face of Jaroslav Hašek's Brave Soldier Švejk , a world-famous Czech literary figure. His good looks make him lively and recognizable to all. Josef Lada was born in 1887 in the small village of Hrusice, east of Průhonice. Lada left his family of shoemakers at the age of 14 and moved to Prague, where he became an archivist. From an early age, he developed a passion for painting and writing, and a love of paper. Self-taught, he created a unique style that won over newspaper editors. He became a cartoonist and illustrator, and enjoyed his first success with the adventures of Mike the cat.
He diversified his activity, designing sets and costumes for the cinema. He imagined the face of the soldier Švejk. Hašek's character and Lada's drawing became inseparable. The latter illustrates the covers of Hašek's works in collections around the world. It adorned restaurants bearing the soldier's name, drink labels and was used in advertising long after Lada's death in 1957. His work is very popular in the Czech Republic, as his subjects are popular: rural life, beer bars, the zabíjačka (pig slaughter), harvests..
Miroslav Šašek (1916-1980), a former architecture student, left his country in 1948 to escape the Communist regime. He settled in Munich, and in the late 1950s began a series of funny, colorful illustrated books on the world's great cities, from Paris to San Francisco, Venice to New York. Prague is not on the list, too bad... Several titles were reissued in 2009.
Street Art in Prague
In Prague, urban art takes the form of painting and sculpture. Any stroll is punctuated by David Černý's controversial creations: Kafka's head, the giant babies, the hanging man, two men urinating face to face... His monumental works have populated the capital's strategic points since 1991. The first was a Russian tank repainted pink. Now, under the Art Nouveau dome of the magnificent Passage Lucerna, St. Wenceslas, patron saint of the Czechs, sits on his horse, upside down! Babies frolic on the Žižkov TV tower and near the Kampa Museum, and you can put your head in a leaning statue in the garden of the Futura Gallery (Švandovo divadlo stop). Kafka's head, with its forty-two superimposed moving parts, is enthroned in Národní třída square.
As for painting, the Lennon wall in the heart of Malà Strana has been renewing itself for years. John Lennon has been regarded by Czech youth as the great pacifist hero since his assassination in 1980. What's more, pop music was banned under Communism. Shortly after his death, an image of Lennon was painted in front of the French embassy. Despite attempts to repaint the wall, the police never succeeded in preventing Lennon from reappearing, among messages of peace and freedom.
Current scene
A historic address for contemporary art, Galerie Rudolfinum has a tradition of presenting innovative artists and even provocative installations in its superb riverside rooms.
Photo enthusiasts should visit the House of Photography (Dům fotografie) on Revoluční Street. Less official, Josef Sudek's studio is tucked away in a secret little garden in Màla Strana. The work of Sudek (1896-1976) is exhibited at the Josef Sudek Gallery, established in his former home. Every year, in December-January, Czech Press Photo combines an exhibition and a competition in the premises of the Town Hall.
A visit to DOX is an essential part of any visit to contemporary art. Housed in a former factory in the north of the capital, this contemporary art center is a reminder of the importance of Czech artists in the European avant-garde.
