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The Position of Czech and Slovak Art in the International Art World*

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The Position of Czech and Slovak Art in the International Art World* The Position of Czech and Slovak Art in the International Art World* JAROSLAV JIRA** Artistic greatness, the seal of personal originality, and the position of art on the international scene cannot be measured according to the geographical area of the state or the size of its population. Rather, the decisive criteria should be sought in the truly individual and original contribution to international art in general. If we examine art history, we discover the true originality and world stature of the Persian minia- tures, the Dutch art of the 17th century, and, prior to that, the Burgun- dian and Flemish schools of painting. Sustained investigation would similarly discern the mature and individualistic painting and sculpture in the Czech countries at the turn of the 15th century. Despite a cer- tain reluctance and an understandable delay, even German art historians have acknowledged the truly unusual greatness and originality of the poetic realism of the Czech school which invests its Madonnas with a certain "sweetness", admitting that the Czech school inspired, to a certain degree, the art in the neighboring countries of Germany, Austria, and Poland. This happy period of cosmopolitanism of the Czech school was un- fortunately interrupted, with great abruptness, by the Hussite wars and, with the exception of a few shining examples of the Baroque period (the painters Kupecky and Skreta, and the engraver Hollar), art in Bohemia and Slovakia remained mediocre throughout the generations of national subjugation. Even the 19th century, which saw a national as well as artistic revival in the Czech countries and Slovakia, failed to elevate the stature of the national art, despite the fact that the strongly nationalistic artists ex- hibited considerable technical skill and creative invention, and did avail themselves of artistic study abroad. They journeyed regularly to Munich and, after the middle of the century, in increasing numbers to Paris * Translated by Danica M. Vanek. ** Deceased Sucy-en-Brie, February 2, 1968. 1430 Jaroslav Jira (J. Cermâk and V. Brozik, both painters of major, but hardly original, canvasses, K. Purkynë, A. Chittussi, Alfons Mucha, and V. Hynais) where they often attained official recognition in the salons and from the art critics. Perhaps one should dust off the forgotten name of the painter Josef Navratil, who rose far above mediocrity and who would attain con- siderable stature in critical international comparison. Similarly, the stature of the poetic genre painter of Old Prague street scenes, Jan Minarik, a pupil of Otakar Marak, who had once been misunderstood by the young school, would grow significantly were it subjected to critical synthesis. His work deserves to be compared with the best Pari- sian scenes of the young Maurice Utrillo; indeed, such comparison might well be decidedly to Minarik's advantage. The relative obscurity of both these artists is due primarily to the disinterest on the part of our art historians who throughout the years failed to arrive at a full understanding of their work. Another brilliant pupil of the landscapist Marak, Antonin Slavicek (1870-1910), perpetuated the heritage of impressionism, infusing it with a typically Czech philosophising tendency. Before his untimely death, he created several outstanding canvasses which reasserted the individualistic tradition of the young Czech art that had been founded by Josef Mânes and Mikulâs Ales. These three painters remain, how- ever, above all in the spotlight of domestic art. At the beginning of the 20th century, with the exhibition of Rodin's and Bourdelle's sculpture in Prague, and the subsequent acceptance of several outstanding young Czech sculptors (Maratka, Kafka, Spaniel, Gutfreund) into Rodin's and Bourdelle's ateliers, the Prague public was finally introduced to European art through the works of Cézanne and Munch, effecting a radical reversal of the situation. Young Czech and, later, also Slovak artists began to make extended study tours to Paris, and found themselves in the midst of the exciting advent of Cézanne's heritage - neoimpressionism and, above all, Cubism and ab- stract art. Some of them, like Frantisek Kupka (1871-1957), Othon Coubine (1883-), Emil Filla (1882-1953), and Bohumil Kubista (1884-1918), settled in Paris for extended periods - Kupka for nearly six decades — and developed artistically within the hothouse of the emerging, pre- dominantly extremist, currents of modern art. All four were true artistic personalities, endowed with rich talent, who attained perhaps the highest goals in the critical soil of Paris. Czech and Slovak Art in the International Art World 1431 Bohumil Kubista and Emil Filla analyzed and dissected the new cur- rents, especially Cubism, avidly, sometimes perhaps with an almost scientific thoroughness. Kubista sought their origins as far back as in the œuvre of the 17th-century French master Poussin. It is significant that Poussin's careful classical discipline and refinement are reflected in the formal and often exhaustive simplification of Kubista's work. Bohumil Kubista's work is indeed an outstanding phenomenon of modern art of a truly international format. It is up to our young artistic- critical community at home, as well as abroad, to corroborate this by an avowed recognition of his work and by means of exhibitions both at home and abroad. A promising beginning in this direction was made on the eve of the war at the World Exhibition in Paris, where the inter- national jury awarded Kubista the large gold medal - the highest award - for his collection of seven canvasses. Kubista and his friend, Emil Filla, together with Antonin Prochâzka (1882-1945) and the sculptor O. Gutfreund (1889-1927), are among the originators of an independent school which might justly be called the "Prague School of Cubism". The collective œuvre of this school, together with the paintings of Josef Capek, would introduce to the inter- national creative arts public the truly original infusion of Czech ele- ments into the aesthetics of Cubism - causing, no doubt, real surprise. The essentially Cubist works of Filla and Capek (Kubista died at the close of World War I) demonstrate their grasp of the new language; moreover, they have something new to say even beside and in com- parison with Picasso and Braque. One French critic wrote: "If Cubism had not existed, Filla would have invented it, and if only a single Cubist remained, it would indeed be he." One of the most regrettable and un- forgivable blunders of the early years of the present Czechoslovak régime has been the specific prohibition of painting in the Cubist manner. Filla, a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts, was forced, under threat of death, to paint in accord with the canons of Soviet realism. The ailing artist was unable to withstand the threats and sub- mitted obediently. The painter Josef Capek (1887-1945), elder brother of the writer Karel Capek, is an equally rare artistic phenomenon, being at the same time an educated intellectual and a practical innovator. His exquisite creative activity was cut short when he was deported to a Nazi con- centration camp from whence he failed to return. Some of his rather stylized paintings and his abbreviated art vocabulary place considerable demands on the observer, while others, on the contrary, are prompted 1432 Jaroslav Jira by everyday, home-like situations, firmly rooted in the wealth of folk- art tradition. The content and form of his work are in balanced unity and accord. The suggestive power of composition and the creative effect of such paintings as "Soumrak" (Dusk), from the tragic year 1938, command the highest critical recognition. It is inevitable that Capek's significance will be rightfully acknowledged when his striking work be- comes known to the international art public. With the aforementioned artists we should also cite Rudolf Kremlicka (1886-1932), whose original talent and admirable artistic stature were soon recognized by Elie Faure, author of the famous History of Art, who wrote a small monograph in which he asserts that Kremlicka adapted himself originally to cosmopolitan art trends without losing his typical Czech flavor. Kremlicka has nothing in common with Cubism; he concentrated rather on landscape compositions and on monumental figures of predominantly female acts which are unique in contemporary art. Kremlicka is still waiting for world recognition both at home and abroad. And yet, the outstanding French critic André Salmon had written that no French artist in the Autumn Salon could successfully compete with Kremlicka with respect to the amazing and cultivated wealth of his talent. An instinctive relationship with the creative sense of folk art is also exhibited by the glowingly colorful work of Vaclav Spala (1885-1946), another member of the generation of the "Tvrdosijni" Hardheads), which was bravely fighting for modern expression in Czech art and for the acceptance of the universal modern art language. And in that lies the novel, strong contribution of this generation to our modern cultural expression. Jan Zrzavy (1890-) has for years been an isolated phenomenon unlike any other in modern art, although he has been profoundly in- fluenced by purely modern tendencies. Despite advanced age and com- plete seclusion during the last fifteen years, he does not cease to surprise with a completely individualistic and almost mystical relationship to art. Formally, his canvasses belong to the symbolistic school but he attains originality through simplification, balanced coloring and, above all, the deep, innermost content of his work. The subjects of his paintings are greatly varied: angels, devils, Parisian and Prague coffee houses, Christ preaching to the women, Bretagne landscapes, Venetian architecture, etc., but all of them are imbued, despite their formal simplicity, with a delicately refined style and the magic of precious poetry. Zrzavy is an undeniable personality and an artist of unusual possibilities, as was Czech and Slovak Art in the International Art World 1433 written by the Belgian critic, E.
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