By Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
www.upm.cz
Pavel Janák: Crystal-shaped container (1911) by Pavel Janák (1882–1956)Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
Crystal - the basis of everything
Pavel Janák considered the form of a crystal to be supremely aesthetic and verified its possibilities in one of the emblematic works of Cubist design, this box with a lid from 1911.
When it was emerging, it was not yet called Cubism, but 'New Art'. The name Cubism was only given later on in a monograph of the art theorist and collector Vincenc Kramář, published in 1921.
Josef Gočár: Six-branch chandelier. Part of a furniture set for actor Otto Boleška (1913) by Josef Gočár (1880–1945)Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
Group of Fine Artists, 1911
The painter Emil Filla, the sculptor Otto Gutfreund, the painter Josef Čapek, the architects and designers Pavel Janák, Josef Gočár, Vlastislav Hofman, and others were familiar with current work abroad, especially in France, and tried to promote avant-garde tendencies at home.
Two floors of The House At Black Madonna are devoted to the Czech Cubism permanent exhibition from the collection of Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague by UPMMuseum of Decorative Arts In Prague
Cubist interior
Furniture like a statue. The refracted surfaces of crystal have made their way into furniture design.
Dynamic shape, smooth monochrome surfaces. No ornaments!
The furniture typology remained traditional - furnishings for dining rooms, study rooms, men's and women's rooms. What was new were the sharp angles and bends of the supporting parts, which required new construction methods.
Ceramics as the most popular sales item
Coffee service with bead handles, 1911
Artěl - a studio for artistic work, founded in 1908 as a production association on the model of the Wiener Werkstätte, became the institutional background of Cubism. Cubist ceramics became a popular commodity and were an important selling point for the economically unstable Artěl. Not only ceramics, but also glass and other Artel goods were already being acquired for the collections of the Austrian Museum of Decorative Arts in Vienna (MAK) at the time of its foundation.
Two floors of The House At Black Madonna are devoted to the Czech Cubism permanent exhibition from the collection of Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague by UPMMuseum of Decorative Arts In Prague
Exposition 'Czech Cubism' of the UPM
House of the Black Madonna
Open daily, except Monday 10am - 18pm
Curator: Lucie Vlčková
Architectural design: Jiří Javůrek
Graphic design: Štěpán Malovec
The exposition of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague presents Czech Cubism as a style ideologically connecting free and applied art and architecture. The exhibited ensembles solitary pieces of furniture along with interior accessories made of ceramics, glass and metals representing a cross-section of the realisations of the most important Cubist artists.
Leading architects and designers Pavel Janák, Josef Gočár, Josef Chochol, Vlastislav Hofman, Otakar Novotný, and František Kysela are represented. Their works are complemented by a selection of cubist paintings by Emil Filla, Bohumil Kubišta, Josef Čapek, Václav Špála, and sculptures by Otto Gutfreund. The influence of Cubism on architecture is presented by a projection of contemporary and period photographs of mostly Prague realisations and designs of Cubist and Rondo-Cubist buildings.
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