Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

In its time, the Prague exhibition of Auguste Rodin, prepared by the Mánes Fine Arts Association, was the most extensive presentation of Rodin’s work outside France. The show, along with Rodin’s visit to Prague, was intended to manifest the Czech nation’s cultural sophistication and strengthen the Czech-French friendship. The event enjoyed unprecedented attention from the press. Reviewers particularly appreciated the young artists’ courage to showcase a sculptor who was yet to become generally accepted at home and internationally. On the other hand, some reviewers reacted negatively to the exhibition’s political aspect. In his article for Moderní revue, Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic wrote that the “loud accentuation of the national aspect” is the only tasteless thing about the exhibition [Karásek 1902, p. 477]. Stanislav Kostka Neumann claimed that the way Rodin was introduced to Prague was a farce. Prague politicians and the general public gave Rodin a spectacular welcome despite the fact that Czechs could have in no way grasped the sculptor's art when even his native Parisians misunderstood him.  

Young Czech artists working in Paris significantly helped to prepare the ground for the Rodin exhibition. Josef Mařatka, the most prominent among them, worked in Rodin’s studio from 1900 onward. In the spring of 1901, the Mánes Association edited a special double issue of Volné směry dedicated to Rodin and one year later the first Prague exhibition of his works was held in the new pavilion by Jan Kotěra.

In addition to Mařatka and Kotěra, the members of the exhibition committee included Miloš Jiránek, Antonín Pfeifer, Jan Štenc, Ladislav Šaloun and Stanislav Sucharda, then chairman of the Mánes Association. The exhibition was accompanied by a catalogue with reproductions and explanatory notes for selected artworks. The introductory part of the catalogue contained texts by Sucharda and František Xaver Šalda. Šalda’s lyrical prologue to the exhibition, entitled Geniova mateřština (A Genius’s Mother Tongue) characterized Rodin as a “restorer and reviver” for whom “sculpture is the mother tongue like for no other sculptor in centuries” and who speaks to us “in the language of eternity” [Šalda 1902a, n.p.]. Most reviewers shared Šalda’s view of Rodin, except for Karel Boromejský Mádl who believed the philosophical contemplation of Rodin’s work hindered understanding of his art. Karel Čapek was even more critical of Šalda, interpreting his text as a slight toward Czech sculpture.

The newly opened building received as much praise as the exhibition itself. The only critical remark came from Šalda who called Kotěra’s pavilion “a fortress of pride and dream” [Šalda 1902b, p. 210]. The pavilion featured two dominant motifs: the entrance gate, placed asymmetrically in the almost unadorned front wall and a low glass dome illuminating the octagonal entrance hall. According to Rostislav Švácha, the gate was a nod to Harrison Townsend’s 1898 Whitechapel Gallery, a symbol of the triumph of modernism [Švácha 1995, pp. 53–54].

In addition to sculptures, the exhibition also included drawings, installed in three of the pavilion’s halls. There were 89 artifacts in total. The scope of Rodin’s exhibition was received positively in the press. The most prominent artworks included sculptures The Kiss, The Iron Age, Old Woman, St. John the Baptist and Eve. The critics noticed the absence of Balzac and Psyche, sculptures that were reproduced on the poster and invitation. Reviewers also criticized the fact that some of the sculptural groups, such as The Burghers of Calais, were not presented in their entirety. Several works were for sale and the city of Prague purchased the sculpture Iron Age, although its placement in the public space later proved rather problematic.

The exhibition accentuated the natural, instinctive character of Rodin’s works. The interior featured a grass lawn and laurel wreaths which created an impressive contrast to exhibited artworks. In his review, Richard Muther wrote the following about the installation: “Laurel wreaths adorn the light-filled house whose gentle silhouette stands out against the deep green of the hill. Ascending the stairs, we enter a hall filled with subdued, airy, pale-grey light. The lawn is bright green, the laurel trees dark green, the plaster on the walls grey” [Muther 1902, p. 2].

In contrast with the enthusiastic applause in artistic circles, the public’s response was somewhat ambiguous. In their texts, Karel Boromejský Mádl and the author of a review in the monthly magazine Naše doba (Our Time) pointed out the irony of the situation: the highly effective promotion in the press as well as posters placed all over Prague attracted a large number of visitors who then left the exhibition disappointed. Stanislav Kostka Neumann, too, protested against the omnipresent Rodin advertising, claiming that genius cannot be popularized.

Despite the high attendance (almost 14,000 visitors), the exhibition was not profitable. Yet, the inspiration it brought to the Czech milieu influenced the entire generation of sculptors and ushered in a new era of Czech modern sculpture [Wittlich 1998, pp. 90–125].

Magdalena Dědičová

Works Cited

Karásek 1902: Jiří Karásek ze Lvovic, Výstava děl sochaře Aug. Rodina v Praze, Moderní revue XIII, 1902, pp. 474–477

Šalda 1902a: František Xaver Šalda, Geniova mateřština, in: Výstava děl A. Rodina v Praze 1902 (exh. cat.), Praha 1902, n.p.

Šalda 1902b: [Quidam = F. X. Šalda], Zprávy a poznámky: Rodinova výstava v Praze, Volné směry VI, 1902, pp. 210–213

Švácha 1995: Rostislav Švácha, Od moderny k funkcionalismu, Praha 1995, pp. 53–54

Muther 1902: Richard Muther, Rodin v Praze, Čas XVI, 1902, no. 160, pp. 2–3

Wittlich 1998: Petr Wittlich, Sochařství na přelomu století, in: Vojtěch Lahoda (ed.), Dějiny Českého výtvarného umění IV/I 1890/1938, Praha 1998, pp. 90–125

Further Reading

Helena Korbelová, Rodinova pražská výstava a jeho návštěva v Praze, Documenta Pragensia II, 1981, pp. 106–124

Marie Halířová a kol., Pocta Rodinovi 1902–1992 (exh. cat.), Praha 1992

Karel Čapek, Přehled umělecký, Rodinova výstava, Česká revue V, 1902, pp. 939–941

Archival Sources

City of Prague Archives, Fonds Fond Spolek výtvarných umělců Mánes, Výstavní činnost [Mánes Fine Arts Association, Exhibitions], A. Rodin 1902 (10. 5. – 10. 8.). Link at: http://katalog.ahmp.cz/pragapublica/permalink?xid=785EA4CE220E11E0823600166F1163D4

Archive of the National Gallery Prague, fonds Mařatka.

Anonymous author, Rodinova výstava v Praze, Lidové noviny X, 1902, no. 108, 11. 5., p. 5

Anonymous author, Výstava Rodinova v Praze, Katolické listy VI, 1902, no. 101, 13. 5., p. 5

Anonymous author, Rodinova výstava v Praze, Katolické listy VI, 1902, no. 110, 22. 5., p. 5

Anonymous author, Hovorna, Kolegové-delegáti, Český učitel V, 1902, no. 48, 6. 8., p. 763

Anonymous author, Rodinova výstava v Praze, Moravská orlice XXXX, 1902, no. 158, 12. 7., p. 6

Anonymous author, Rodinova výstava v Praze, Lidové noviny X, 1902, no. 99, 30. 4., p. 6

Anonymous author, Rodinova výstava v Praze, Národní listy XXXXII, 1902, no. 218, 9. 8., p. 4

Anonymous author, Rodinova výstava v Praze, Čas XVI, 1902, no. 143, 26. 5. p. 2

r., Zase jednou zahanbující cifry, Máj I, 1902, no. 40, 26. 6., pp. 612–613

Sn., Výstava Rodinova v Praze, Akademie VI, 1902, no. 8, p. 264