Czech Cubism

The story of a style that spilled over from painting into other fields of art

Josef Gočár: House At Black Madonna, the late department store (1911/1912) by Josef Gočár (1880–1945)Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague

1911 – 1914

Cubism, one of the first currents of the European avant-garde, made a significant impact in Bohemia, not only in painting and sculpture, but also in architecture, utilitarian objects, and interior design. The extent to which this happened is unparalleled in Europe.

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. 

Josef Gočár: Writing desk.Part of a furniture set for the study of V. V. Štech, 1913–1914 Executed by Prague Art Workshops (PUD) (1913/1914) by Josef Gočár (1880–1945)Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague

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.

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, UPM, From the collection of: Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
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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, UPM, From the collection of: Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
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Pavel Janák: Table Mirror. Part of a furniture set for historian Josef Borovička and Růžena Jakubcová, 1911–1912 Executed by Prague Art Workshop (PUD), Pavel Janák (1882–1956), 1911/1912, From the collection of: Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
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Josef Gočár: Étagère. Part of a furniture set for the study of ophtalmologist Jan Deyl Executed by the Prague Art Workshops (PUD), Josef Gočár (1880–1945), 1912, From the collection of: Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
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Coffee service with flat handles (1912/1919) by Pavel JanákMuseum of Decorative Arts In Prague

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.

Coffee service with pearl-strand handles, Pavel Janák, 1911/1911, From the collection of: Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
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Low chalice-type vase, Pavel Janák, 1911, From the collection of: Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
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Vlastislav Hofman: Ashtray, Vlastislav Hofman (1884–1964), 1912, From the collection of: Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague
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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.

Credits: Story

Read on here. Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague

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The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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