Czech Interwar Modern
50 Masterpieces from the Collections of the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen
Will be published approx. on 15. December 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
120 pages
978-1-83636-046-9 (ISBN)
Description
This new book presents highlights of one of the Czech Republic’s key collections of interwar modern art, at the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen, with reproductions and essays on their artistic and cultural context.
The collection of Czech interwar modern art at the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen presents a wide spectrum of artistic trends from 1918 to 1938, from early pre-WWI Modernism, Expressionism and Poetism to avant-garde experiments and Surrealism. Great attention is also paid to social art and the so-called New Objectivity.
The collection, built up mainly in the 1960s and 1970s by the Gallery’s first director, Oldřich Kuba (and expanded ever since), includes works by personalities such as Josef Šíma, Jindřich Štyrský, Toyen, František Muzika, Jan Zrzavý, Václav Špála, Emil Filla, Josef Čapek, Bohumil Kubišta, František Tichý, Otakar Coubine, Antonín Procházka and others.
The forthcoming publication offers a wealth of visual material in the form of reproductions of all the works included, together with interpretative texts introducing their authors and explaining the origin and content of the works and their significance in a broader cultural and historical context.
The collection of Czech interwar modern art at the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen presents a wide spectrum of artistic trends from 1918 to 1938, from early pre-WWI Modernism, Expressionism and Poetism to avant-garde experiments and Surrealism. Great attention is also paid to social art and the so-called New Objectivity.
The collection, built up mainly in the 1960s and 1970s by the Gallery’s first director, Oldřich Kuba (and expanded ever since), includes works by personalities such as Josef Šíma, Jindřich Štyrský, Toyen, František Muzika, Jan Zrzavý, Václav Špála, Emil Filla, Josef Čapek, Bohumil Kubišta, František Tichý, Otakar Coubine, Antonín Procházka and others.
The forthcoming publication offers a wealth of visual material in the form of reproductions of all the works included, together with interpretative texts introducing their authors and explaining the origin and content of the works and their significance in a broader cultural and historical context.
More details
Persons
Roman Musil has been the director of the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen since 2007. He is the co-author of a number of major exhibitions and publications. Alena Pomajzlová studied art history and Italian language at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague. Ivana Skálová is an art historian, curator of art collections and exhibition producer. Marcel Fišer is an art historian specializing in 20th and 21st century art. Eva Bendová is a Czech art historian focusing on interdisciplinary art history, visual arts, and architecture of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. Petr Jindra trained as an electrical engineer and worked as a manual laborer and a nurse. He began teaching art in 1994.
Content
Introduction by Alena Pomajzlová on the Czech Interwar Modern in the European and worldwide context Introduction by Roman Musil on the Modernist collection in the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen List of Artists covered: Karel Boháček Josef Čapek Emil Filla Otto Gutfreund Karel Holan Miloslav Holý František Janoušek Alfred Justitz Jiří (Georg, Georges) Kars Rudolf Kremlička Svatopluk Máchal Milada Marešová František Muzika Alois Moravec Antonín Procházka Václav Rabas Josef Šíma Václav Špála Jindřich Štyrský Toyen (Marie Čermínová) Jan Zrzavý