Josef Čapek
4. 3. - 30. 5. 2010
Dům u Jonáše & Chateau no. 3
The Čapek brothers made their first appearance on the Czech arts scene together, but their paths soon diverged. While Karel soon achieved renown in his native country and abroad, Josef died before receiving similar recognition. It was only in the 1960s that he began to be appreciated as one of the most distinctive Czech modern artists.
His versatile talent allowed him to make original contributions to various fields of the arts. He wrote short stories, novels, plays, modern fairytales for children and criticism that displayed an exceptional intellectual gravity and depth. He was also a prominent journalist and art critic who systematically followed the Czech art scene, as well as monitoring the most important new developments in European art. Above all he was a painter, and was also successful in printmaking and illustration, caricature, typography and stage design.
A large retrospective exhibition held towards the end of last year at Prague Castle highlighted the significance of Čapek’s legacy. As well as his well-known oil paintings from pubic collections, it also included many previously unknown works from private collections, as well as works that had not been exhibited for many years. The exhibition attracted record numbers of visitors, and was enthusiastically received by critics and the general public alike. The East Bohemian Gallery of Fine Arts – the exhibition’s initiator and co-organiser – is now exhibiting Čapek’s works in its own premises. The exhibition adheres to the concept for the Prague exhibition, presenting a representative selection covering all the stages of Čapek’s development as an artist and mapping out all the fields of art he operated in, including the applied arts, as well as showing how they related to his writing. It also contains a number of surprises for visitors, and presents a number of previously unknown works that were not on display in Prague.
The exhibition is held under the patronage of Radko Martínek, President of the Pardubice Region.
author: Pavla Pečinková
commissary: Simona Vladíková
