Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

The Mährischer Kunstverein, founded in 1882 in Brno, was the only art association in Moravia at the time. That same year, the Kunstverein started the tradition of annual exhibitions which, until the end of the 19^th century, were the only events of this kind in Moravia. The Mährischer Kunstverein had no building of its own. For its exhibitions, it rented the halls at the Brno Reduta, which served as Brno's cultural centre, where theatre performances, concerts, dance balls and similar events were held beginning at the end of the 17^th century.

The first exhibition organized by the Mährischer Kunstverein featured 146 paintings, of which 133 were oils and 13 watercolours. The event built its prestige only gradually. While established annual exhibitions regularly received artists' newest works, Mährischer Kunstverein's new shows had yet to earn their trust. At the beginning, large parts of these exhibitions were borrowed from private collections. Viennese art dealers also played an important role as they would lend paintings from their art stores. At the 1882 exhibition in Brno's Reduta, one eight of the exhibiting artists were already dead, suggesting that private collectors and art dealers contributed significantly to these shows. For example, the exhibiting artists included Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller (1793–1865), a prominent Viennese Biedermeier artist. The first exhibition of Mährischer Kunstverein was therefore not entirely what it had been planned to become – an overview of the region's most recent paintings.

However, in terms of the represented artists, this first exhibition already had the specific structure typical of the region closely tied to Vienna. Although Vienna attracted a number of Moravians, they still maintained close relations with their native country. The artists who exhibited in Brno can be divided into three groups: 1. artists living in Moravia, usually Brno, 2. artists living outside their native country, most often in Vienna and 3. artists who had no direct connections to Moravia and usually lived in Vienna. All three groups intermingled. Viennese Moravians maintained contacts with Brno painters and further relations were later facilitated by newly founded Moravian art associations. The social life of artists in Vienna was centered around Viennese art associations such as Genossenschaft der bildenden Künstler Wiens and later also Wiener Secession.

For the first group of artists, the Mährischer Kunstverein exhibitions were a key platform to present their paintings, and so all the Brno artists made sure to sent their best work to the 1882 show. As far as this section, the Kunstverein's first event was already a full-fledged annual exhibition. It showcased works by two of Brno’s most important painters in the late 19^th century, Franz Felbinger (1844–1906) and Emil Pirchan (1844–1928), the only painters in Brno to equal other Central-European artists. These annual exhibitions also turned out to be an opportunity for the earlier generation of Brno painters to show their works, as they were used to only presenting their paintings occasionally at public shows. Although they were at the end of their careers, these painters were now able to participate in regular, reviewed art shows. In 1882, the sough-after portrait painter Anton Mayssl (1826–1899) took advantage of this opportunity. However, the Kunstverein's first exhibition also served as a platform for Brno’s amateur artists such as the officer and later general Friedrich Franceschini (1845–1906).

Unlike the Brno artists, the Moravian painters who moved to the monarchy's capital mostly exhibited in the Viennese Künstlerhaus, and the Brno exhibitions were of little practical importance to them. However, ties to their native Moravia gradually led them back to Brno. The 1882 show included only two Vienna-based Moravians: Hugo Charlemont (1850–1939) and Josef Kinzel (1852–1925). Whether a painter was willing to present works in Brno likely depended on the intensity of his patriotism. Hugo Charlemont, for instance, was later deeply involved in the Vereinigung deutschmährischer bildender Künstler, founded in 1909, and even became its first chairman

Regarding the Viennese painters with no direct ties to Moravia, their presence at the exhibition was likely a result of art dealers lending works by artists who may not have even known about the Brno show. The most important figures of the Viennese art world were generally represented by second-rate paintings. For example, Hans Makart (1840–1884), the most renowned Viennese figuralist, had a small portrait at the exhibition, which, despite its famous author, failed to arouse the enthusiasm of the critics. Leopold Carl Müller (1834–1892), also a professor of figural painting at the Viennese Academy, was represented by a painting he had made almost a decade ago. However, the Brno show featured high-quality, recent paintings by other prominent Austrian figuralists such as Eugen von Blaas (1843–1932), who later became a regular participant in Mährischer Kunstverein's exhibitions. Albeit on a more modest scale, the composition of the Viennese participants in the 1882 exhibition basically followed the composition of artists in the annual exhibitions at the Künstlerhaus in Vienna. This applied to both figuralists and landscape painters (Eduard Lichtenfels, Albert Zimmermann, etc.). In addition to the Moravian and Viennese artists, who together made up about two-thirds of the exhibiting artists, Munich painters were also strongly represented at the exhibition; in the first decade of the Mährischer Kunstverein's existence, they accounted for about one-tenth of the participants. Next to Vienna, Munich was another favourite destination for Moravian artists.

In terms of quality, this first exhibition had yet to reach the standard usual for the Mährischer Kunstverein's later shows. However, it proved that the Moravian art scene was ready for regular, annual exhibitions. With a strong generation of emerging Moravian painters finishing their studies at the Viennese art schools and the founding of the Mährischer Kunstverein, this exhibition showed that Moravian art had overcome the persistent crisis into which it had fallen during the Napoleonic Wars.

Robert Janás

Works Cited

Robert Janás, Mährischer Kunstverein v letech 1882–1918. Dějiny a výstavní činnost spolku, dissertation,  MU FF Brno 2001, pp. 85–93

Robert Janás, Vídenští umělci na brněnských výstavách spolku Mährischer Kunstverein v letech 1882–1918, Bulletin Moravské galerie v Brně LXXV, 2017, pp. 56–69

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