Course details

Czech Art of the First Half of the 20th Century in Context

ICUZ Acad. year 2016/2017 Winter semester 3 credits

Current academic year

Overview of art styles, personalities and tendencies in painting and sculpture in the Czech Lands in the 20th century. The attention is paid to the phenomena which incorporate or follow expressionism, cubism, surrealism, abstraction, as well as to the transformations in the landscape painting and to period decorativeness or retrograde tendencies.

Guarantor

Ondračka Pavel, PhDr.

Language of instruction

Czech, English

Completion

Examination (written+oral)

Time span

  • 26 hrs lectures

Assessment points

  • 100 pts final exam

Department

Faculty of Fine Arts (FaVU)

Subject specific learning outcomes and competences

Basic phenomenons and personalities of the Czech XXth Century Art.

Learning objectives

Ability to orientate in basic phenomena and personalities of fine arts in the Czech Lands and in Europe.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Basic knowledge of the history of the Czech Lands and their culture.

Syllabus of lectures

  1. The "generation among" Jindřich Prucha, Miloš Jiránek, Karel Myslbek. The influence of McNeill Whistler on Czech painting.
  2. The "Osma group" in context. Munchian painting in Czech art. Neoclasicism. German members of the group.
  3. The Fine Artists Group. The Cubism Dispute. The Art Monthly. The Comparison of exhibition activities of the Manes and Group 4 activities. Second Wave Symbolism. the SURSUM group, other personalities.
  4. The sculptors Jan Štursa and Otto Gutfreund. The question of monumental art in Czech sculpture of the early 20th century.
  5. The "Obstinates" group. Futurism, bergsonism. The Almanach of 1914. S. K. Neumann, Josef Čapek, Václav Špála, Rudolf Kremlička, Jan Zrzavý. Vlastislav Hofman, Otakar Marvánek.
  6. The "Butterbur" group (Devětsil) and poetism. The birth of the society, manifests, changes of opinion, Karel Teige, Adolf Hoffmeister, František Muzika. Exhibitions, pictorial poems. Artificialism and Jindřich Štyrský - Toyen.
  7. The Arts Society and their Life and Myth magazine. Jareš, Boháček, Rabas, Vlastimil Rada, Vojtěch Sedláček
  8. The Social group, Karel Holan, Miloslav Holý, Pravoslav Kotík. The Arts Society and their support of younger art generations (The Butterbur and 42 Groups).
  9. Neoclassicism. The Exhibition of Decorative Arts in Paris, 1925. The reflection of Andre Lhote and Tamara Lempicka's art in Czech art. Neocubism, eroticism; Neue Sachlichkeit in the Czech context. The followers of Zrzavy. Otto Gutfreund, Alfred Justitz, Jaroslav Král.
  10. Jan Bauch and parallels of his art and Oscar Kokoschka's. František Tichý (French context), Josef Lada, Zdenek Rykr and the Kolin circle.
  11. The interim period of 1930 - 1934. Erotic revue. The Poetry 1932 exhibition. The Surrealist group, personal and political relationships. Karel Teige, Vítězslav Nezval, Jindřich Štyrský, Toyen, Josef Šíma, František Janoušek.
  12. Abstract art of the 1930s. František Kupka, František Foltýn. Les Artistes Musicalistes and Arne Hošek, Augustin Ságner, Miloš Boria. The generation of Symbolists in 1930s. Vojtěch Preissig, František Drtikol. The Line group.
  13. The Moravian Visual Artists Society between the Wars. Albín Polášek, a Moravian sculptor in the USA. Jakub Obrovský.
  14. Academic painting betwen the Wars. Vratislav Nechleba, František Hlavica, Oskar Brázda, František Hlavica.
  15. Christian art - art at the margins. Josef Florian and his circle. Bohuslav Reynek.
  16. Landscape painting. Otakar Nejedly, his trips to India and Ceylon. Art deco.
  17. Interwar scupltupre between the official commissions and avantgarde.

Progress assessment

Study evaluation is based on marks obtained for specified items. Minimimum number of marks to pass is 50.

Controlled instruction

Test.

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