Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

As a sequel to the Mährischer Kunstverein’s first exhibition of portraits, this show presented diverse examples of portraiture from the mid-19th century to the present. The organizers, who also installed the artworks, were guided by expert advice from Brno University professor Eugen Dostál. They chose 108 paintings from Moravian private collections alongside many watercolours, drawings, prints, and sculptures. Many of these works were family portraits which, according to Viktor Oppenheimer, illustrated the “interests and taste of the wealthy social circles.” In addition to many artists of local importance (Josef Zelený, Jan Gebhardt, Emil Pirchan, Eduard Charlemont, Carl Maria Thuma, František Hlavica, Emil Hlavica, Julius Pelikán) and the portrait painters popular among the bourgeoisie (Josef Kriehuber, Carl Blaas, Franz Schrotzberg, Filip Alexius László, Heinrich Angeli, Hans Temple, and František Ondrúšek), the exhibition included high-quality works by prominent European artists of the second half of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, such as Hans Makart, Anselm Feuerbach, Franz Lenbach, Lowis Corinth, Emil Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele, Emil Orlik, Käthe Kollwitz, Anton Faistauer, Serge Pauser, Max Oppenheimer, André Derain, Jaroslav Čermák, Miloš Jiránek, Max Švabinský, Jaroslav Král, Rudolf Kremlička, and sculptors Gustav Ambrosi, Jan Stursa, and Hana Wichterlová.

The exhibition catalogue again lists some of the names of the owners, or at least their initials. Unsurprisingly, the larger sets came from the property of Moravian aristocrats, particularly Hugo Salm, Rudolf Anton Kinsky, Albrecht Dubský, and Karel Belcredi, and also from the private collections of the German-speaking bourgeoisie. The industrialist Arnold Skutezky contributed many portrait drawings from his excellent collection, while the physician Gustav Prochazka and the high-school professor Dr. Berthold König lent drawings and paintings by Egon Schiele, Anton Faistauer, and Josef Dobrowsky – artists who enjoyed great popularity among Brno collectors and art lovers. Several prominent works of art, such as Portrait of the Painter's Daughter by Fritz Uhde, Portrait of a Lady by Gustav Klimt, Schiele’s drawing of his father, and Kokoschka’s Portrait of a Dancer, came from Irene Beran, a leading Brno collector of modern art [Slavíček 2016]. Another highlight of the show – André Derain’s Italian Girl from 1913 – was a loan from Heinrich Fuhrmann. Unlike the previous Mährischer Kunstverein projects, this show featured more artworks borrowed from Czech collectors, such as the pharmacist and well-known bibliophile Mojmír Helcelet, the lawyer Alois Pražák, the scientist Jaroslav Císař, and the architect Emil Králík. However, in contrast to the previous exhibitions, critics received the 1934 show with reservations. Albert Kutal pointed out the essential “danger of such ventures relying on diverse material from private collections. They produce ... ensembles in which certain components completely overwhelm others, even more important ones, thus creating a random grouping without a clear concept, which tends to distort the reality rather than illuminating it." [Kutal 1933]

Lubomír Slavíček 

Works Cited

Kutal 1933: -al [Albert Kutal], in: Index VI, 1934, p. 54

Slavíček 2016: Lubomír Slavíček, Irene Beran a ty druhé. Brněnské sběratelky umění německé národnosti před rokem 1939, in: Hana Jordánková (ed.), Alis volat propriis. Sborník příspěvků k životnímu jubileu Ludmily Sulitkové, Brno 2016, pp. 576–595, 686–687

Further Reading

Lubomír Slavíček, Retrospektivní výstavy spolku Mährischer Kunstverein v letech 1925–1945, in: Jana Vránová – Lubomír Slavíček (ed.), 90 let domu umění města Brna. Příběh jednoho domu, Brno 2000, pp. 79–88

90 let Domu umění města Brna. Seznam výstav a katalogů, Brno 2000, p. 5, p. 54, no. 112

Anonymous author, Porträt-Ausstellung im Künstlerhaus, Volksfreund LII, 1932, no. 4, 6. 1., p. 6

V. Opp. [Viktor Oppenheimer], Von der Porträtausstellung im Brünner Künstlerhaus, Tagesbote 84, 1934, no. 157, 5. 4., p. 7

Porträt-Ausstellung im Künstlerhaus, Volksfreund LII, 1932, no. 80, 6. 4., p. 6 

V. Opp. [Viktor Oppenheimer], Die Porträtausstellung des Mähr. Kunstvereines, Tagesbote LXXXIV, 1934, no. 163, 8. 4., p. 8

V. Opp. [Viktor Oppenheimer], Letzter Tag der Porträtausstellung, Tagesbote LXXXIV, 1934, no. 220, 13. 5., p. 10