Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

The exhibition of the Franzensmuseum Art Association was probably the first modern public art exhibition not only in Brno but in Moravia in general - at least, we do not know of any earlier comparable undertaking. It was the culmination of almost ten years of the existence of the Franzensmuseum Art Association (Kunstverein für Franzensmuseum), founded in 1829 on the initiative of Franz Moriz Xaver Braumüller (1780-1860), the provincial director of road construction. Braumüller served as secretary of the Moravian-Silesian Economic Society (K. k. mähr.-schles. Gesellschaft zur Beförderung des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde), which took care of the development of scientific, economic, and cultural life in the country and, among other things, established the Franzensmuseum in Brno (now the Moravian Museum), one of the oldest museums in Central Europe.

After assuming the position of secretary, Braumüller focused primarily on expanding the museum’s art collections, which, in his own words, should “cultivate the fine arts in addition to rigorous science” [Braumüller 1829, p. 113]. In 1829, he successfully proposed the establishment of a Kunstverein to help finance the acquisition of artworks after the initial wave of spontaneous growth of the collections following the museum’s founding in 1817 had subsided. This was probably the first Kunstverein in the Habsburg Monarchy, predating even the Vienna Kunstverein (founded in 1830), and Braumüller was justifiably proud of its primacy [Braumüller 1838a, p. 215]. However, unlike the other progressive bourgeois art societies that had already emerged in Germany and Central Europe as broadly organized shareholder associations with regular annual sales exhibitions, the Brno association’s activities were limited to raising funds for the purchase of works of art for museum collections and their subsequent presentation.

Initially, Braumüller had an ambitious plan to purchase one or more paintings from the Vienna Annual Exhibition or directly from the studio of a contemporary artist working in the Habsburg Monarchy at least every three years using voluntary membership fees. However, contributors were scarce, and it took almost ten years before the association could fulfil at least part of its purpose. It was not until 1838 that the association purchased two paintings by Natale Schiavoni, an Italian figurative painter who was then highly regarded in Vienna: Judith with the Head of Holofernes and Madonna and Child. Soon after the acquisition, Braumüller announced his intention to exhibit both works at the end of the summer and invited the local collectors to supplement the show with outstanding paintings from their private collections “to increase the enjoyment of the art-loving public” [Braumüller 1838a, p. 215].

 Braumüller announced that the exhibition would open on September 1 and close at the end of the month. The two newly acquired paintings by Schiavoni received an enthusiastic review in the magazine Moravia, in which Ernst Rincolini (1785-1867), a Brno physician, collector, and art connoisseur, reflected on the broader social potential of contemporary art. The exhibition also included 32 other paintings, mostly from earlier periods. These came from local private collectors such as Vincenzo Gerstbauer (1785 - c. 1863), Ernst Hawlik (1776-1846), Anton Kromer († 1857) and Alexander Offermann (c. 1769-1842). Some lenders, namely Josef Ethler (1796-1880) and František Xaver Rektořík (1793-1851), also exhibited their own works. Both were known as exceptionally skilled amateur artists. The largest group of eight paintings came from the collection of Ernst Rincolini.

Because the exhibition had no catalogue – at least none that has survived – we draw information about its content from a few reliable reports by the organizers and (exhibiting) writers [e.g., Hawlik 1838]. Among Central European artists, Viennese artists were the best represented at the exhibition, which confirms Moravia’s long-standing cultural orientation towards the seat of the Habsburg monarchy in this period. The show was held in the main hall of the Franzensmuseum in the Bishop Court in Brno. All the paintings were labeled with the name of the artist and their owner and hung on a “movable wall covered with wallpaper,” so that they received a good light [Braumüller 1838b]. Unfortunately, the only report on how the Brno audiences received the exhibition comes from Hawlik, who, as a participant, was hardly impartial: “The Brno public showed great interest in this exhibition of paintings, evidenced by a large number of visitors” [Hawlik 1841, p. 11]. Nevertheless, we may assume that the first exhibition of such scope and quality must have sparked the interest of at least a part of society at that time. 

The establishment of the Art Society of the Franzensmuseum and what was probably the first public exhibition of paintings in the Moravian capital reflects the efforts of several committed art lovers, led by Franz Moriz Xaver Braumüller, to develop modern forms of organizing and exhibiting art in the limited conditions of a provincial center. The show’s focus on older rather than contemporary art probably did not correspond to the organizers’ original ambitions. However, they undoubtedly saw the participation of almost all local collectors and art lovers and their willingness to lend works from their own collections as a success, which they attempted to repeat with a second, similarly conceived exhibition in 1842.

Petr Tomášek

Works Cited

Braumüller 1829: Moriz Xaver Braumüller, Einladung zur Bildung eines Kunstvereins für das Franzensmuseum, Mittheilungen der k. k. Mährisch-Schlesischen Gesellschaft zur Beförderung des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde in Brünn, 1829, no. 15, pp. 113–114

Braumüller 1838a: Moriz Xaver Braumüller, Einladung der k. k. m. sch. Gesellschaft des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde [an die hh. Gemählde Besitzer], Mittheilungen der k. k. Mährisch-Schlesischen Gesellschaft zur Beförderung des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde in Brünn, 1838, no. 27, pp. 214–215

Braumüller 1838b: Moriz Xaver Braumüller, Die Gemähldeausstellung im Franzensmuseum, Mittheilungen der k. k. Mährisch-Schlesischen Gesellschaft zur Beförderung des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde in Brünn, 1838, no. 36, pp. 286–287

Hawlik 1838: Ernst Hawlik, Berichte für Kunstfreunde, Mähren betreffend 1, Moravia 1, 1838, no. 64, p. 256

Hawlik 1841: Ernst Hawlik, Zusätze und Verbesserungen zu dem Werkchen: Zur Geschichte der bildenden und zeichnenden Künste im Margrafthume Mähren, Brünn 1841

Rincolini 1838: R. [Ernst Rincolini], Natale Schiavoni`s Gemälde. Ausgestellt im Franzens-Museum zu Brünn, Moravia 1, 1838, no. 72 (5. 11.), pp. 285–286

Further Reading

Anonym, Die Gemälde-Ausstellung im Franzens-Museum zu Brünn, Moravia V, 1842, no. 66, 18. 8., pp. 265–266 

Christian d´Elvert, Der alte und der neue mähr. Kunstverein, Notizen-Blatt der historisch-statistischen Section der kais. königl. mährisch-schlesischen Gesellschaft zur Beförderung des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde, 1883, no. 5, pp. 33–39

Jaroslav Kačer, Moravské malířství první poloviny 19. století, in: Jaroslav Kačer – Jitka Sedlářová, Moravské malířství první poloviny 19. století (exh. cat.), Kroměříž 1980, pp. 3–15

Josef Hájek, Dějiny obrazové sbírky Františkova muzea v letech 1817–1841 (thesis), MU Brno 1997

Lubomír Slavíček, „Sobě, umění, přátelům“. Kapitoly z dějin sběratelství v Čechách a na Moravě 1650–1939, Brno 2007 

Petr Tomášek (ed.), Moravská národní galerie. 194 let od založení (exh. cat.), Brno 2011

Lubomír Slavíček, „... hier in Brünn das Interesse für die Kunst anzuregen“. Brněnské umělecké výstavy v letech 1851 až 1878, Bulletin Moravské galerie v Brně LXXV, 2017, pp. 34–55

Petr Tomášek (ed.), Naše galerie! Moravská zemská obrazárna (1817–1961), Brno 2022

Archival Sources

Moravský zemský archiv, fonds G 82 – Hospodářská společnost [Economic Society], file 240 (Umělecký spolek Františkova muzea[Franzensmuseum Art Association])

Moriz Xaver Braumüller, Kundmachung vom Franzensmuseum, Mittheilungen der k. k. Mährisch-Schlesischen Gesellschaft zur Beförderung des Ackerbaues, der Natur- und Landeskunde in Brünn, 1838, no. 34, p. 272

Moriz Xaver Braumüller, Kundmachung vom Franzensmuseum, Mährisch-Ständische Brünner Zeitung, 1838, no. 243, 4. 9., p. 1079

Moriz Xaver Braumüller, Die Gemäldeausstellung im Franzensmuseum, Mährisch-Ständische Brünner Zeitung, 1838, no. 255, 16. 9., pp. 1137–1138