Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

The joint sales presentation of three or four unrelated artists or groups was very common in the interwar period, statistically probably the most common exhibition model in large and prestigious venues such as the rooms of the Moravian Art Association [Mährischer Kunstverein] in the Brno Künstlerhaus / House of Artists or those of the Krasoumná Jednota v Čechách / Kunstverein für Böhmen in the Rudolfinum and later in Pštrossova Street in Prague. Given the potential of the art scene in interwar Czechoslovakia, it was unrealistic to expect that these large spaces, with a capacity for well over 100 works of art, could be filled with monographic or national exhibitions.  In addition to group exhibitions with fixed dates and the occasional solo shows of prominent (sometimes international) artists, both Mährischer Kunstverein and Krasoumná Jednota organized approximately four to six joint solo exhibitions of different artists each year. These Kollektiv-Ausstellungen, or Sonder-Ausstellungen as they were often called in German usually lasted two to three weeks. This type of exhibition allowed artists to present larger sets of their current work in attractive exhibition venues in large cities. Most of the artists would not be able to fill these exhibition spaces with high-quality content. At the same time, they had current material that they could not use in the annual group exhibitions, so the Sonder-Ausstellungen were the best solution. Although quite heterogeneous, they had a unifying element, most often a region.  

The joint exhibition of two Brno sculptors Leo Fitz and Otto Neudert, the painter, sculptor, and ceramicist Hubert Kovařík from Svitávka, and the Verband deutscher Graphiker in der ČSR was one of these exhibitions. It took place in the Brno House of Artists in 1936 and was organized under the banner of the Mährischer Kunstverein. It is worth discussing not only because it presented some of the lesser-known artists but also because the German-speaking leaders of the Mährischer Kunstverein presented both German- and Czech-speaking South Moravian artists alongside a national association that the Brno public must have perceived as Prague-based rather than local. This inclusiveness and crossing of ethnic and regional boundaries were common to both the Mährischer Kunstverein and Krasoumná Jednota, attesting to the democratic and multicultural character of the institutions, whose exhibition program set the tone in the interwar art world of Czechoslovakia.

The exhibition was accompanied by a simple twelve-page catalogue in German, sewn together in the middle with two metal staples – a common catalogue format at the time. It was printed by the Leopold Karafiat & Kucharz printshop in Brno. The catalogue was slim and vertical, printed in black on yellow paper, and contained no introductory text. The artists were listed alphabetically, with the Verband deutscher Graphiker at the end. The exhibited works were numbered consecutively. The exhibition presented 306 artworks in total, most of which were prints. The Brno audience knew both Fitz and Neudert from previous exhibitions of the Vereinigung deutscher bildender Künstler Mährens und Schlesiens “Scholle” or from the annual pre-Christmas exhibitions at the House of Artists. There, the visitors could occasionally see the works of Hubert Kovařík, who otherwise participated in the group exhibitions of Klub výtvarných umělců Aleš (Aleš Club of Fine Arts).

Leo Fitz exhibited 31 oil paintings and 14 drawings. The price of his paintings ranged from 800 to 2,000 crowns. They were mostly town and landscape vedutas and still lifes. Hubert Kovařík, known and respected today mainly as the creator and designer of Kunštát ceramics and porcelain in the Art Deco style, presented his lesser-known paintings and prints at the exhibition, along with sculptures. He exhibited 47 works in total. Among them were ten oil paintings (for sale) priced from three to eight thousand crowns, eight works were listed in the catalogue as not for sale without any indication of technique, and another ten oil paintings were probably studies, offered for 200 crowns. Kovařík also presented two watercolours, ten prints (drypoint), a bronze sculpture Anadyomene and six terracotta sculptures. Otto Neudert was represented by eight oil paintings (priced between 700 and 1200 crowns), 23 watercolours and 14 prints.

The presentation of the Verband deutscher Graphiker in der ČSR consisted of 167 works by 17 artists (see catalogue). The selection included 12 paintings, the rest of the exhibits were prints and drawings. The selection included two women artists – Inge Thiele Peschka (the wife of Professor Franz Thiele, who was the driving force behind the association) and Käthe Kollwitz, the only foreign artist in the selection, which otherwise included artists from the entire German-speaking belt of the Czech lands, from České Budějovice through Volhynia, Mariánské Lázně, Teplice, Prague, Rumburk, Český Lípa, Jablonec, and Opava. This was probably a reprise of the Prague exhibition from March of the same year.

The exhibition in Brno went virtually unnoticed by the national and regional media, including the German press. Brno’s Tagesbote devoted three short (probably paid) reports to it, on the content and opening hours. The Prager Tagblatt drew attention to the exhibition after about half of its duration, stating that “the presentation of the Verband deutscher Graphiker der ČSR under the direction of Franz Thiele is most interesting and varied,” and added a list of names. The exhibition and its reflection in the media show that we have only limited information about the exhibition activity of Brno’s Künstlerhaus, even though it was a relatively large and prestigious venue. The lack of response in the media may also signal the waning interest in art during the period of growing domestic and international political tension in the late 1930s. This exhibition format and the way it was reflected in the media may explain why we often still have little relevant information about domestic art production and its actors, particularly in the second half of the interwar period.

Ivo Habán

Literature

Ivo Habán, Na dohled Vídně, ve stínu Prahy? Mährischer Kunstverein a Vereinigung deutscher bildender Künstler Mährens und Schlesiens „Scholle“, in: Anna Habánová (ed.), Mladí lvi v kleci. Umělecké skupiny německy hovořících výtvarníků z Čech, Moravy a Slezska v meziválečném období, Liberec – Řevnice 2013, pp. 60–79

Ivo Habán, Brněnský dům umělců jako výstavní centrum německy hovořících umělců z Moravy, Slezska a Čech, in: Lubomír Slavíček, Janá Vránová (eds.), 100 let Domu umění města Brna (exh. cat.), Brno 2010, pp. 71–96

Jitka Sedlářová, Vereinigung deutscher bildender Künstler Mährens und Schlesiens: „Scholle“ – dějiny spolku německomoravských výtvarných umělců v letech 1909–1945, in: Jana Vránová – Lubomír Slavíček (ed.), 90 let Domu umění města Brna. Historie jednoho domu. Architektura, historie, výstavy, kulturní činnost 1910–2000, Brno 2000, pp. 45–63

Anonymous author, Künstlerhaus-Ausstlellungen, Tagesbote 86, 1936, no. 232, 19. 5., p. 7

Anonymous author, Brünner Ausstellungen, Prager Tagblatt 61, 1936, no. 119, 21. 5., p. 7

Anonymous author, Künstlerhaus-Ausstlellungen, Tagesbote 86, 1936, no. 241, 25. 5., p. 8

Anonymous author, Künstlerhaus-Ausstlellungen, Tagesbote 86, 1936, no. 253, 31. 5., p. 10