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Twentieth-Century Reception and Representation of Czech Modernist Art Within the UK and Anglo- American Writings

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https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ Theses Digitisation: https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/research/enlighten/theses/digitisation/ This is a digitised version of the original print thesis. Copyright and moral rights for this work are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This work cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given Enlighten: Theses https://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] University of Glasgow History of Art MPhil Thesis 2007 Twentieth-Century Reception and Representation of Czech Modernist Art within the UK and Anglo- American Writings Rebecca Bell 9906339 GLAStlONV UNIVFIRSITY LIBRARY ProQuest Number: 10395694 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10395694 Published by ProQuest LLO (2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLO. ProQuest LLO. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Acknowledgements Many thanks to Juliet Kinchin and Paul Stirton for their supervision, considered advice and unerring support. Thanks to Keith Hartley, Jaroslav Andel, Vojtech Lahoda and Olga Pujmanova for their time and guidance. I also greatly appreciate the financial support of the AHRC, which facilitated this research. Finally, I am extremely grateful for the help and support of Connie Cullen and Steve Cole. i KAREL SCHULZ JIH t e i S i f S 1925 « AV'~^;v 1. Karel Teige & Jaromir Krejôar North, West, East and South 1923 Contents Synopsis 5 List of Illustrations 6 Introduction 11 Chapter One (1900-1926) Czech national identity: the exhibition as testament to the industrial and cultural success of Bohemia, and the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic 16 Chapter Two (1938 to 1967) Internationalism, historicism and Czech Modernist art as ‘receptacle’ 52 Chapter Three (1968 to the late 1980s) The role of the individual within Czech history: key spokesmen and the operation of art historical chronologies 100 Chapter Four (1989 to 2006) The need for a new vocabulary: socio-political approaches and plurality 143 Conclusion 172 Bibliography 176 Synopsis This thesis surveys the receptions and representation of Czech Modern and Modernist visual art within Anglo-American art historical texts and exhibition spaces from 1906 to the present day. It paiticulaiiy focuses on the representation and understanding of Czech art within Britain, investigating a series of case studies in the form of exhibitions of Czech Modernism, and seminal texts published on the subject. Through studying the representation of Czech art within British exhibition spaces and institutions, I will question the dominant attitudes and definitions brought to Czech Modernism by Anglo-American writing and curatorial practice. Art historical texts will be supplemented by historical, political, and sociological texts, as well as press releases and journal articles, both by Czech and British authors, in an attempt to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the terms though which Czech Modernist art is represented and received within Britain. Word Count: 41, 246 List of Illustrations 1. Karel Teige & Jaromir Ki'ejcar North, West, East and South 1923 Book cover for North, West, East and South by Karel Schulz Decorative Arts Museum, Prague Source: Jaroslav Andel, El Arte de La Vanguardia en Checoslovaquia 1918-1938, IVAM Centre Julio Gonzalez, Valencia (Valencia, 1993) 2. Emil Filla Child near a Forest 1907 Oil on canvas 96 X 138 cm National Gallery Prague Source: S. A. Mansbach Modern Art in Eastern Europe (Cambridge, 1999) 3. Josef Gocar The Black Madonna House 1911-1912 Prague Source: The Black Madonna House: Museum of Czech Cubism, National Gallery in Prague, guide to the permanent exhibition (Prague, 2004) 4. Josef Mânes Morning 1857 Oil National Gallery Prague Source: Jaroslav Novak and Vlastimil Valek (eds), Josef Mânes Libâny na Hané (Prague, 1982) 5. Otto Gutfreund Nemcova Memorial at Ratiborice 1921 Marble Source: Antonin Matëjcek and Zdenek Wirth, Modern and contemporary Czech art (London, 1924) 6. Oskar Kokoschka Portrait of TG. Masaryk 1935-36 Oil on canvas Carnegie Museum of Arts, Pittsburgh Source: Carnegie Museum of Arts, Pittsburgh 7. Emil Ki'alicek Nika pro sochu Saint Jan Nepomucky 1912-13 Spalena, Prague Source: Photograph by author 8. Zlm Family House 1930 Source: Malcolm Gee, Tim Kirk and Jill Steward (eds), The City in Central Europe: Culture and Society from 1800 to the present (PAéQXÛiOt, c. 1999) 9. East Tilbury | Source: http://images.google.co.uk I I 10. Otto Gutfreund j Return of the Legionaries \ 1921 ! Frieze, Legiobanka, Prague Source: Peter Cannon-Brookes in collaboration with Jiri Kotalik, Petr Hartmann and Vaclav Prochazka, Czech sculpture 1800-1938, National Gallery of Wales (London, : 1986) 11. Josef Mânes Month of March 1865 One of twelve calendar medallions for Prague Old Town Hall clock Prague City Museum Source: Frantisek Kovârna, “Painting and Sculpture in Czechoslovakia”, The Studio, Vol. 115, no. 542 (May 1938), pp. 236-249 12. Jan Preisler The Daisy Chain or Spring 1906 Oil on canvas National Gallery Prague Source: Antonin Matëjcek and Zdenëk Wirth, Modern and contemporary Czech art (London, 1924) 13. Bohumil Kubista Triple Portrait 1907 Oil on canvas 86 X 108 cm National Gallery Prague Source: S.A. Mansbach Modern Art in Eastern Europe (Cambridge, 1999) 14. Bohumil Kubista Self-portrait with Overcoat c. 1908 Oil on canvas 92 X 66 X 4 cm Oblastm galerie vÿtvarného umënf Source; Czech Modernism: 1900-1945 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, 1989) 15. Eudo Fulla A Farmer’s Wedding 1957 Oil on canvas Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava Source: Guide to the Slovak National Gallery, Bratislava (Bratislava, 1995) 16. Henry Moore UNESCO Reclining Figure 1957 Roman Travertine marble 508 cm UNESCO Headquarters, Paris Source: http://www.henry-moore-fdn.co.uk/matrix_engine/content.php?page_id=500 17. Emil Filla Bathers 1911-12 Oil on canvas 125 X 83.5 cm National Gallery Prague Source: S.A. Mansbach Modern Art in Eastern Europe (Cambridge, 1999) 18. Otto Gutfreund Anxiety 1911-12 Bronze h. 148 cm Museum Kampa, Prague Source: Otto Gutfreund Museum Kampa (Prague, 2003) 19. Otto Gutfreund Morning Toilet 1911 Bronze h. 43 cm Museum Kampa, Prague Source: Otto Gutfreund, Museum Kampa (Prague, 2003) Otto Gutfreund 20. Hamlet 1912-13 Bronze h. 68 cm Museum Kampa, Prague Source: Otto Gutfreund Museum Kampa (Prague, 2003) 21. Otto Gutfreund Don Quixote 1911-12 Bronze h. 38 cm Museum Kampa, Prague Source: Otto Gutfreund Museum Kampa (Prague, 2003) 22. Stanislav Sucharda Monument to Frantisek Palacky (Detail) 1898-1912 Prague Source: Antonin Matëjcek and Zdenëk Wirth, Modern and contemporary Czech art (London, 1924) 23. Ladislav Jan Saloun Monument to Jan Hus 1900-1915 Prague Source: Antonin Matëjcek and Zdenëk Wirth, Modern and contemporary Czech art (London, 1924) 24. Josef Zftek National Theatre Prague 1867-1877 Source: Antonin Matëjcek and Zdenek Wirth, Modern and contemporary Czech art (London, 1924) 25. Otto Gutfreund Industry 1923 Bronze h. 36 cm Museum Kampa, Prague Source: Otto Gutfreund Museum Kampa (Prague, 2003) 26. Hana Wichterlova Composition 1929-1930 Bronze 424 X 560 cm 27. National Gallery Prague Source: Peter Cannon-Brookes in collaboration with Jiri Kotalik, Petr Hartmann and Vâclav Prochâzka, Czech sculpture 1800-1938, National Gallery of Wales (London, 1986) 28. Zdenëk Pesânek Monument to the Pilots Killed during the War 1924-5 Model 10 X 18 X 18 cm Benedict Rejt Gallery, Louny Source: S.A. Mansbach Modern Art in Eastern Europe (Cambridge, 1999) 29. Karel Teige Travel Postcard 1923 Collage: halftone, letterpress, tempera, and ink 32.5 X 24.5 cm Gallery of the City of Prague Source: Czech Modernism: 1900-1945 The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (Houston, 1989) 10 Introduction Due to post-1989 ai'chive accessibility and increased scholai’ly communication, Central European Modernist art is an area of increasing interest to Western research. The Arts and Humanities Research Council’s ring-fenced funding for scholarship in this field is demonstrative of the subject’s current status in Britain. This thesis analyses definitions of Czech Modern and Modernist art within Anglo-American writings and exhibitions from 1906 to 2006, comparing more recent scholar ship and exhibitions to pre-1989 interpretations and descriptions. European Modernism is often understood as a series of elaborations on models established in such artistic centres as Paris, Berlin and Vienna. British and Czech interpretations of Modernism have frequently assumed a peripheral role to European definitions. Considerable current interest in Central European Modernism makes the issues which arise in this thesis pertinent to contemporary scholarship: the V&A’s exhibition Modernism: Designing a New World 1914-1939 (2006) is just one example of burgeoning interest in adjusting wider histories of European Modernism. Scholarly interest in this field provokes the question, how can an academic vocabulary be established that crosses borderlines without falling into ambivalent discussions of nationhood? Definitions of Central Europe frequently employ a cultural map or geography to describe links and relationships to a wider European context, imposing a coherent identity that in reality is composed of diverse ethnic groups and histories.
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