Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

This was the last of 22 large annual exhibitions of Krasoumná jednota, which took place in the Rudolfinum between 1886 and 1906, always in the spring, from about mid-April to mid-June. The exhibition halls on the ground and first floors of the Rudolfinum usually housed 700-1000 exhibits. The 66th annual exhibition in 1905 was the most extensive, with the number of works reaching 1,154. From 1907, the number of exhibits was usually limited to 250-300 in the rooms on the ground floor, while the halls on the first floor with their excellent overhead lighting were no longer used [Filip - Musil 2021, p. 290]. The traditional concept of salon exhibitions thus reached its final stage in Prague. Predictions of its demise had been appearing in the press since the beginning of the 20^th century, but the Krasoumná jednota tried to prevent it through various innovations, even by embracing the Art Nouveau style promoted by its rival associations. The exhibitions now included not only the presentation of modern art or, characteristic for the period, applied art objects, but also a new emphasis on exhibition design, installation, and graphic design of posters and catalogues [Filip – Musil, pp. 285–286]. The exhibition committee of the 67^th annual show consisted of five painters and one sculptor (Josef Kalvoda); the art collector and philanthropist Vojtěch Lanna (the committee’s chairman); the deputy director of the Museum of Decorative Arts, F. A. Borovský; and the secretary Alois Czermak. The guest organizations, Jednota umělců výtvarných (Union of Fine Arts, JUV) in Prague and the Art Nouveau-oriented association Die Scholle, had their own juries. The total number of exhibits reached 993, with Die Scholle replacing some of them during the exhibition.

In the first decade of the 20^th century, the Prague annual exhibitions rarely featured centrepieces equivalent to the large history paintings of the previous period. Instead, some of the participating artists were represented by a significant number of works; in 1906, the exhibition showcased a selection of 40 paintings by the renowned Munich painter Albert von Keller, while the Viennese printmaker William Unger had 23 pieces there and Josef Král and František Ondrúšek, both painters and draftsmen invited by the JUV, exhibited 22 works each. The 1906 show is an example of the encyclopedic approach that characterized salon exhibitions [Filip – Musil 2021, p. 288]. It presented the anachronistic work of ninety-year-old history painter Karel Javůrek while showcasing modern art (e. g. Auguste Rodin, James Ensor, Otto Modersohn, and other Worspswede landscape painters, Die Scholle, Józef Mehoffer) and even the future representatives of the avant-garde (Wassily Kandinsky, Alfred Kubin, Růžena Zátková). The catalogue lists names of art manufacturing companies, such as the Aluminia in Copenhagen, Daume Frères, the glass factory of Max von Spaun (Johann Lötz – widow) in Klášterský Mlýn, and the royal porcelain works in Berlin and Kopenhagen. 

The exhibition records list 48 private purchases for 23,218.44 crowns. The two exhibited paintings by Jakub Schikaneder, Winter Fog and A Street at Dusk, were sold for 650 and 700 crowns to the commercial councillor Felix Lechner and the Czech section of the Modern Gallery respectively. The latter also enriched its collections with Roman Havelka’s The River Dyje near Bítov and Josef Ullmann’s Snow in the Rocks (for 1500 and 1600 crowns, respectively). Other expensive paintings were acquired by Carl Klemens Ritter von Claudy – Street in Sanlucar (700 K) by Manuel Garcia y Rodriguez from Seville; the Bettelheim family – On Guard by Karel Rasek (800 K); J. R. von Wessely – Norwegian Landscape (1200 K) by Ludvig Skramstadt, a Norwegian painter living in Munich; V. Lanna – In Summer (1,500 K) by the Munich painter Franz Xaver Simm; and as well as Eduard Knight Daubek – A Beautiful Evening in Corrèze (1,532.90 K) by William Didier-Pouget from Paris. Didier-Pouget’s other canvas, Evening in the Pyrenees, was acquired from the public fund for the SVPU Picture Gallery for the record sum of 3000 crowns. The Chief Financial Councillor Dr. Petschek purchased the marble sculpture Forbidden by Gustav Eberlein from Berlin for 2,500 crowns. The well-known Prague writer Max Brod is listed as the purchaser of the lithograph Suffisance by Felicien Rops (33.60 crowns). Krasoumná jednota bought 52 works for its annual raffle, spending 13,457 crowns.

Most of the artists came from various parts of Prague and nearby Olšany (126, i.e. 34.24%), while 13 other artists declared their place of residence in 12 other places in Bohemia (e.g. Cheb, Jindřichův Hradec, Sazená) and Moravia (Kojetín). Vienna was represented by 20 artists, Graz and the smaller Austrian municipalities of Fahrafeld and Maurach by 1 each, Trieste by 2, and Krakow by 5 artists. 109 artists sent their works from Germany, namely Munich, including nearby Übersee (65 artists, i. e. 17,66%); Berlin, including Charlottenburg and Grunewald, was represented by 16 artists; Düsseldorf by 6; Dresden and nearby Birkigt by 4; Karlsruhe by 3; Weimar by 2; and 11 other municipalities by one each. Paris and its suburb St. Cloud were the home of 44 artists at the exhibition (i. e. 11.96%), with 46 artists coming from France in general, a significant representation, although a large proportion of artists were foreigners settled there, such as the Czechs Antonín Brunner, Heinrich (Henri) Kautsch, Josef Kratina, Ferdinand Michl, Václav Radimský, and Otakar Španiel. 20 artists represented at the exhibition came from Great Britain, with 12 from Scotland (10 landscape painters from Glasgow) and 8 from England (7 from London and Dyreham). The other countries were represented as follows: Italy 8 (including Rome 4), Belgium 6 (Brussels 3, Ghent 2), Holland 5 (Amsterdam 2), Spain and Switzerland 2 each, Denmark 1.

Aleš Filip

Works Cited

Filip – Musil 2021: Aleš Filip – Roman Musil, Proměny salonního umění na výročních výstavách Krasoumné jednoty v Praze, in: idem (edd.), Epocha salonů. České salonní umění a mezinárodní výtvarná scéna 1870–1914, Brno – Plzeň 2021, pp. 199–310

Further Reading

Jakub Bachtík – Lukáš Duchek – Jakub Jareš (edd.), Chrám umění: Rudolfinum, Praha 2020

Anna Masaryková, Cizí umělci na výstavách Krasoumné jednoty v Praze, in: Jaroslav Pešina (ed.), Sborník k sedmdesátinám Jana Květa (Acta Universitatis Carolinae. Philosophica et historica), Praha 1965, pp. 199–205

Vladimír Novotný, Sto let Krasoumné jednoty, Praha 1935

Vít Vlnas (ed.), Obrazárna v Čechách 1796–1918. Katalog výstavy uspořádané Národní galerií v Praze u příležitosti dvoustého výročí založení Obrazárny Společnosti vlasteneckých přátel umění, Praha 1996

Archival Sources

Archive of the National Gallery in Prague, fonds SVPU, sign. AA 1419, Seznamy soukromých nákupů na výstavách Krasoumné jednoty [Lists of private purchases at Krasoumná jednota exhibitions]

Anonymous author, Neue Schönheit, Prager Tagblatt XXX, 1906, no. 97, 8. 4., pp. 1–2

Anonymous author, Jahresausstellung des Kunstvereins im Rudolphinum, Prager Tagblatt XIX, 1906, no. 110, 22. 4., p. 11

Anonymous author, Jahresausstellung des Kunstvereins im Rudolphinum, Prager Tagblatt XIX, 1906, no. 152, 3. 6., p. 15

Anonymous author, Výroční výstava Krasoumné jednoty v Rudolfině, Národní politika XXIV, 1906, no. 96, 7. 4., p. 3

Anonymous author, Po výstavě v Rudolfíně, Venkov I, 1906, no. 56, 3. 6., II. supplement

T., (Výstava Krasoumné jednoty), Naše doba XIII, 1905–1906, p. 627