Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

At the turn of 1926, the City Museum in České Budějovice housed the first exhibition of the Association of South Bohemian Artists (Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků, SJV). The group began to take shape around 1920 but was not officially established until October 24, 1925. Its founders – South-Bohemian architects Karel Chochola and Bohumír Hochman, painters Julius Bous, František Bohumil Doubek, Jan Vítězslav Dušek, Otto Matoušek, and the sculptor Otto Birma – were graduates of the Prague Technical University, Academy of Fine Arts, and the School of Arts and Crafts, born or settled in South Bohemia. The painter Emil Pitter was elected the group's first chairman. The newly established artistic group aimed to support artists born or working in South Bohemia and to educate the public through lectures and exhibitions [Nesvadba 2007, pp. 14-16]. Exhibitions played a central role in the group’s program, as evidenced by the speed and intensity with which they prepared their first show. 

The artists started to organize their first group exhibition shortly before the association’s establishment. Less than three weeks later, on November 11, SJV representatives were clear about the date and venue and sent out calls for artworks [SJV fund]. Initially, the group had no funding, so each participant had to pay a share of 50 CZK before the exhibition started, to be returned after the show. The City Museum allowed the SJV to use its exhibition rooms free of charge. 

The opening took place on December 6, 1925, in the morning. In his opening address, chairman Emil Pitter emphasized the importance of the emerging art association for cultural life in South Bohemia [Zelenka 1925]. Sixteen association members participated in the exhibition, presenting 188 artworks, including paintings, drawings, and prints. Their simple and tasteful presentation on dark exhibition panels was complete with sculptures by J. V. Dušek and Otto Birma in the middle of the rooms. Architects Karel Chochola and Bohumír Hochman showcased their work through drawings and photographs, and in addition to architectural designs, they also presented several watercolours. Although this was a group exhibition, the SJV had no unified artistic agenda, so the works were stylistically diverse. While the paintings by one of the oldest members, F. B. Doubek, represented traditionalist academic painting, the younger painters employed a more relaxed brushwork, particularly evident in the drawings and paintings of Julius Bous and Otto Matoušek depicting the South Bohemian landscape. In addition to landscape painting, the exhibition featured folk genre scenes and cityscapes. South Bohemian motifs dominated the selection, suggesting that the show aimed to capture the specific features of the South Bohemian landscape and its inner spirit [Borkovec 1925]. The awareness of the region’s unique character and the aspiration to express it in art was also behind the founding of SJV.

The show attracted the attention of many regional reviewers, but short mentions also appeared in national newspapers such as Lidové noviny and Národní listy. The revue Veraikon published an unusually comprehensive text on SJV by Emil Pacovský. Critics generally commented on both the exhibition and the association itself, which they welcomed as a promise of new positive artistic influence on the public. A reviewer in the periodical Jihočeský přehled was slightly more critical, evaluating the show as the first imperfect step of the newly established art association [F. M. 1926].

Some of the exhibited works were offered for sale, so the exhibition catalogue with introductory text by Pitter included the prices. According to the reviewers, most of these artworks found their buyers, and the artists were able to recoup the funds invested in the exhibition. The show was well attended, with visitors including individuals, schools, and other groups to whom SJV members offered guided tours. 

Following its successful first show, the SJV intensified its exhibition activities. In January 1926, the members began to prepare travelling reprises in Třeboň, Lišov, Jindřichův Hradec, and Tábor. In the following years, the association organized regular autumn group exhibitions and solo shows of its members. It did not limit its activity to České Budějovice, where its shows took place in the City Museum and later in the rooms of the local Beseda, but ventured to other South Bohemian cities and also to Bratislava, Pilsen, and Prague. In several cases, SJV co-organized shows with other associations, such as the Association of West Bohemian Artists in Pilsen, Umělecká Beseda (Artistic Club), and Prager Secession. Finally, the SJV invited prominent Prague artists to exhibit in České Budějovice. For example, Emil Filla presented his paintings there in 1932. The SJV’s regular activities set in motion by its first show continued until 1949. One year later, the SJV had to disband due to the communist regime’s cultural policy, and its members joined the regional centre of the Union of Czechoslovak Artists. 

Its first exhibition was a milestone for the Association of South Bohemian Artists. Compared to the artistic output in the main Czechoslovak cultural centres at the time, most artworks at the show were hardly progressive. In fact, they came across as quite provincial. But the exhibition’s importance was precisely in its regionalism. It aimed to offer a consistent overview of South Bohemian artists, and judging from the responses to the show, it succeeded.

Tereza Štěpánová

Works Cited

Nesvadba 2007: Oldřich Nesvadba, Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků v Českých Budějovicích 1925–1950, thesis, FF JČU, České Budějovice 2007

fonds SJV: SOA Třeboň, fonds SJV, inv. no. 31, Výstavy [Exhibitions], 1925–1931, sign. II C 1 a, box. 8., document 10

Zelenka 1925: Z [Julius Zelenka], Výstava Sdružení jihočes. výtvarníků, Jihočech XXVIII, 1925, no. 96, 14. 12., p. 3

Borkovec 1925: B [Dr. Borkovec?], O regionalismus, Jihočeské listy XXXI, 1925, no. 99, 19. 12., p. 2

F. M. 1926: F. M., Sdružení Jihočeských Výtvarníků, Jihočeský přehled I, 1926, no. 1., 15. 1., pp. 27–28

Further Reading

 Hana Krubnerová, Alois Moravec a Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků, thesis, FF UPOL, Olomouc 2012, pp. 29–48

E[mil] Pacovský, Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků v Českých Budějovicích, Veraikon XII, 1926, no. 1, pp. 1–12

Archival Sources

SOA Třeboň, fonds SJV, inv. no. 31, Výstavy [Exhibitions], 1925–1931, sign. II C 1 a, box 8

SOA Třeboň, fonds SJV, inv. no. 32, Výstavní katalogy II C 1 b, box 13., catalogue  I. Výstava SJV V Č. Budějovicích

SOA Třeboň, fonds SJV, inv. no. 67, sign. IV A 2 a, Kniha výstřižků z novin a časopisů 1925– 1930 [Book of Clippings from Newspapers and Magazines, no. 21

Anonymous author, Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků v Českých Budějovicích, Národní politika XLIII, 1925, no. 334, 6. 12., p. 9

Anonymous author, Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků, Národní listy LXV, 1925, no. 339, 11. 12., supplement, p. 9

Anonymous author, Výstava Sdružení Jihočeských Výtvarníků v Č. Budějovicích, Jihočeské listy XXXI, 1925, no. 97, 12. 12., p. 3

Anonymous author, Výstava „Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků“, Hlas lidu XX, 1925–1926, 17. 12. 1925, no. 23, p. 3

Ml, Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků, Lidové noviny XXXIII, 1925, no. 636, 20. 12., p. 9

Anonymous author, Výstava Sdružení Jihočeských Výtvarníků, Jihočeské listy XXXII, 1926, no. 1, 6. 1., p. 2

Anonymous author, Výstava „Sdružení jihočeských výtvarníků“, Jihočeské listy XXXII, 1926, no. 2, 9. 1., p. 2