Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

The 1907 Exhibition of Moravian Artists in Hodonín marks a significant milestone in the history of exhibitions and art associations bringing together artists of Slavic – or more precisely Czech – nationality in Moravia. The rapid expansion of Czech-language culture in the Margraviate of Moravia in the early 20th century led to the establishment of the Club of Friends of Art in Brno in 1900. In addition to the fine arts, which had a separate section within the association from 1905 onwards, the club also sought to foster the development of literature and music. However, some of the artists, led by the painter Alois Kalvoda (1875–1934), became disillusioned with the club's activities, particularly its exhibitions, which consistently resulted in financial losses. Tensions escalated in July 1906, when the painter Joža Uprka (1861–1940) organized a gathering of artists and their supporters in Luhačovice, where the participants decided to hold an exhibition of Moravian artists – one entirely independent of the Club of Friends of Art – and to establish a self-governing professional body modelled on Central-European Künstlervereine: the Association of Moravian Visual Artists (Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských, SVUM). Some of those present subsequently resigned from the Club (Kalvoda, Uprka, Stanislav Lolek, and Max Švabinský), a move that was not without controversy. A later commentary suggests that antipathy toward Brno and its institutions played no small part: "The exhibition will give rise to a new organization, built on solid foundations and fertile ground. Brno has shown its incapacity; fresh forces will come from elsewhere." [Anonymous author 1907]

When selecting a venue for the planned exhibition, the originally proposed Moravian-Slovak villages of Rohatec, Hroznová Lhota, and Vlčnov were deemed unsuitable, and negotiations over the neo-Renaissance pavilion (casino) in Brno's Lužánky park came to nothing. The choice ultimately fell on the town of Hodonín, which had previously hosted the 1902 Slovak Art Exhibition – the first joint showcase of Moravian and Slovak artists. This event entered the annals of modern Czech cultural history, particularly thanks to the visit of the renowned French sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840–1917), which has recently been reconstructed in meticulous detail. [Musilová 2022] As early as February 1907, the well-informed Olomouc daily Pozor was already announcing the forthcoming exhibition of Moravian visual artists in Hodonín. On March 23, participating artists held a meeting in Hodonín, during which they confirmed the venue: the Besední dům (Club House, Štefánikova 293/3). The exhibition was planned to run from May 5 to June 3 of that year. Although the press consistently presented the show as a collective endeavour of all participating artists, the concept was likely authored by the jury members appointed to assess the submitted works: Joža Uprka, Alois Kalvoda, Bohumír Jaroněk, and Hugo Baar.

The organizers left nothing to chance and from the outset worked to attract attention to their venture. Numerous reports on the preparations and progress of the exhibition appeared in Moravská orlice, Lidové noviny, Pozor, and in a wide array of other periodicals (Brněnské noviny, Čas, Našinec, Právo lidu, Rovnost, České slovo, Venkov, Čech, Národní politika, and others). Fully aware that the success of the undertaking depended in no small measure on its financial outcome, the organizers sought to secure a return on their investment – partly by negotiating a guaranteed advance purchase of selected exhibited works for the collections of the Picture Gallery of the Moravian Regional Museum (today part of the Moravian Gallery in Brno). On February 19, 1907, the leading artist-organizers (Joža Uprka, Franta Úprka, Stanislav Lolek, Max Švabinský, Alois Kalvoda, Jan Štursa, and Bohumír Jaroněk) wrote a letter to the Moravian Provincial Committee, confidently requesting a grant of 10,000 crowns earmarked for the purchase of works from the Hodonín exhibition – with the selection to be entrusted to a jury composed of the exhibiting artists themselves. Shortly afterward, a rival proposal initiated by the Club of Friends of Art recommended allocating a mere thousand crowns for acquisitions from the exhibition. Following lengthy negotiations involving the Moravian Museum Society, various associations, the provincial committee and the diet, it was ultimately agreed that museum representatives would select works from the Hodonín exhibition totalling 2,000 crowns. [Tomášek 2022, pp. 35–37] Similarly fraught negotiations over the acquisition of artworks for regional collections continued in subsequent years, with the various parties involved pushing for selection based on the artists’ national identity or affiliation to this or that art association.

The day before the opening, Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este paid a visit to the Besední dům, where "the exhibiting artists were assembled, putting the finishing touches to the final minor details of the installation." According to reports, the Archduke "spoke in the most flattering terms about the exhibition, praising both the artistic works on display and the arrangement, which he declared most harmonious." [Anonymous author 1907b] The formal opening took place the following day, on Sunday May 5, 1907, at half past eleven, in the presence of numerous guests, politicians, artists, and intellectuals, including the composer Leoš Janáček, the architect Dušan Jurkovič, the writer Alois Mrštík, and the poet Karel Dostál-Lutinov. Because the original inaugural speaker – the doyen of Czech-Moravian art, František Bohumír Zvěřina (1835–1908) – had sent his apologies due to ill health, the opening words were spoken by Joža Uprka, the driving force behind the entire enterprise. In addition to Uprka, the exhibition featured 34 contemporary artists from the domestic art scene, including five women. According to the catalogue, a total of 176 works were showcased, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, architectural designs and applied art objects. On the first day alone, the exhibition welcomed around five hundred visitors from Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia. Contemporary press reports mention organized group visits (including one by Czech nationals from Vienna), accompanying events (notably the Whitsun celebrations featuring the traditional Ride of the Kings), inspections by members of parliament, and even a ministerial visit.

In contrast to the enthusiastic newspaper reports, critical reviews, especially those by Brno authors, were characterized by a sense of circumspection. The writer and art critic Karel Elgart-Sokol (1874–1929) acknowledged the appealing "regional character" of the Hodonín setting, but as an active member of the Club of Friends of Art he took issue with what he saw as the exhibition's uneven quality — a consequence, he argued, of the organizers' ambition to make it "a kind of Moravian fine arts overview." [Elgart-Sokol 1906–1907, p. 174] Both he and the Lidové noviny reviewer Karel Zdeněk Klíma (1883–1904) objected to the requirement for exhibiting artists to be of “Moravian origin.” This was in response to the original call for artworks, which stated that “all Moravian artists should participate in the exhibition.” [Anonymous author 1907c] Although it appears to be a genuine attempt to transcend national, professional and other barriers in the selection of works, the requirement was often interpreted rather narrowly as an attempt to limit participation to artists born on Moravian soil. This would have disqualified "Moravians by choice," most notably the architect Dušan Jurkovič (1868–1947). The harshest criticism was aimed at the inclusion of five German artists (Hugo Baar, Loni Baar, Franz Barwig, Lili Gödl-Brandhuber, and Theodor Charlemont), which critics saw as a concession to the political establishment in a land where Czechs and Germans held equal standing following the Moravian Compromise of 1905. In contrast, the newspaper Pozor, whose editors were close to the organizers, welcomed the decision: "All Moravian artists, Czech and German alike, will participate in the exhibition. We welcome this step on the part of our artists, for it is both right and salutary to measure one's strengths – and then, if need be, to let the truth speak: that art has nothing to do with political wrangling and strife." [Anonymous author 1907a]

Some representatives of Czech cultural life in Moravia, particularly those associated with the Brno Club of Friends of Art, viewed the Hodonín initiative as somewhat separatist, arguing that it could lead to the dangerous fragmentation of national energies. They claimed that "there are good reasons why a united front must be maintained in defending artistic interests against the German administration." [Anonymous author 1907d] However, the exhibition's unambiguous social and financial success ultimately vindicated its organizers. Due to the great public interest, the show was extended by a full week, with over seven thousand visitors passing through its doors. Forty-two of the exhibited works were sold for a total of 9,763 crowns. [Anonymous 1907e] This outcome reassured the participating artists that establishing a separate art association was the right decision. SVUM was founded in Hodonín soon afterward, at the first general assembly held on August 26, 1907 in Valašské Meziříčí — the day after the opening of the association's second exhibition in the local Czech grammar school.

Petr Tomášek

Works Cited

Anonymous author 1907a: Anonymous author, Moravské umění, Pozor (Pondělník) XIV, 1907, no. 40, 25. 2., pp. [1–2]

Anonymous author 1907b: Anonymous author, Zahájení umělecké výstavy v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice (Příloha) XLV, 1907, no. 105, 7. 5., p. [5]

Anonymous author 1907c: Anonymous author, K výstavě výtvar. umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 76, 3. 4., p. [3]

Anonymous author 1907d: Anonymous author, Klub přátel umění, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 153, 7. 7., p. [1]

Anonymous author 1907e: Anonymous author, Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských (Ze zprávy jednatelské výstavy v Hodoníně), Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 200, 1. 9., p. [6]

Elgart-Sokol 1906–1907: Sokol E. [Karel Elgart-Sokol], Hodonínská výstava umělecká, Moravsko-slezská revue III, 1906–1907, no. 8–9, pp. 172–177

Musilová 2022: Helena Musilová (ed.), Pražská Pallas a Moravská Hellas 1902. Auguste Rodin v Praze a na Moravě, Brno 2022

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

Further Reading

Jan Galeta – Martin Šolc – Tomáš Valeš, Antonín Blažek (1874–1944). Architekt nenápadné moderny, Hodonín 2025

Eva Christova, Počátky Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně /1907–1914/ (dissertation), Masaryk University, Brno [1952]

Robert Janás, Brněnské malířství od založení Klubu přátel umění do vzniku Československa (1900–1918), Brno v minulosti a dnes. Příspěvky k dějinám a výstavbě Brna 25, 2012, pp. 257–283, supplement pp. 26–29

Hana Jordánková, Klub přátel umění – nejstarší brněnský umělecký spolek, in: Emil Kordiovský (ed.), XXII. Mikulovské sympozium 7.–8. října 1992. Politické strany a spolky na jižní Moravě, Mikulov–Brno 1993, pp. 223–228

Jaroslav Pelikán, Galerie výtvarného umění v Hodoníně. Průvodce historií a stálou expozicí, Hodonín 1985

Jitka Tichá, Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských (thesis), Masarykova univerzita, Brno 1998

Ilona Tunklová (ed.), 100. výročí založení Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských (exh. cat.), Hodonín 2007

Jana Votrubová, Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských (thesis), Masarykova univerzita, Brno 1989

Archival Sources

Archive of the Gallery of Fine Arts in Hodonín, Photo Album of the Association of Moravian Artists

Brno City Archives, Fonds R 39 – Brněnské umělecké spolky [Brno Art Associations, Brno]

Archive of the Moravian Provincial Museum, fonds Obrazárna Moravského zemského muzea II [Picture Gallery of the Moravian Provincial Museum II], box 2, files 830/1907, 839/1907, 924/1907, 936/1907, 960/1907, 965/1907, box 7, file 1351/1907, box 9, file 1104/1907, box 18, file 381/1907 (purchases of works of art from the exhibition for the Picture Gallery of the Moravian Provincial Museum)

Moravian Provincial Archives, fonds A 9 – Zemský výbor [Provincial Committee], boxes 4488, 4552

Moravian Provincial Archives, fonds G 416 – [Sdružení výtvarných umělců moravských Hodonín] Association of Moravian Artists Hodonín

Anonymous author, Zahájení výstavy moravských výtvarných umělců v Hodoníně, České slovo. Ústřední orgán České strany národně sociální I, 1907, no. 57, 9. 5., p. 5

Anonymous author, K výstavě výtvar. umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 93, 5. 4., p. 6

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 103, 15. 4., p. 6

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 108, 20. 4., p. 6

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvar. umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 121, 3. 5., p. 2

Anonymous author, Umělecká výstava v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 142, 25. 5., pp. 4–5

Anonymous author, Čechové vídeňští na umělecké výstavě v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 146, 29. 5., p. 9

Anonymous author, Zástupcové zemského musea moravského na výstavě umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 148, 31. 5., p. 2

Anonymous author, O týden prodloužena…, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 148, 31. 5., p. 3

Anonymous author, Ministerská návštěva výstavy výtvar. umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 149, 1. 6., p. 4

Anonymous author, Deputace…, Lidové noviny XV, 1907, no. 163, 15. 6., p. 4

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 72, 28. 3., p. [6]

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 86, 14. 4., p. [5]

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 92, 21. 4., p. [5]

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 100, 1. 5., p. [3]

Anonymous author, Svátkem uměleckým…, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 103, 4. 5., p. [2]

Anonymous author, Neočekávaný ale oprávněný zájem…, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 107, 9. 5., p. [6]

Anonymous author, O jeden týden prodloužena bude výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 124, 1. 6., pp. [2–3]

Anonymous author, Ministerská návštěva výstavy výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 125, 2. 6., p. [3]

Anonymous author, Do 9. června bude otevřena výstava výtvar. umělců moravských v Hodoníně, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 127, 5. 6., p. [3]

Anonymous author, Výstava výtvarných umělců moravských v Hodoníně byla v neděli 9. června ukončena, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 135, 14. 6., p. [5]

Anonymous author, Deputace…, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 137, 16. 6., p. [2]

Anonymous author, Umělecká výstava moravských výtvarníků, Pozor (Pondělník) XIV, 1907, no. 25, 4. 2., p. [1]

Anonymous author, Truc na truc někomu…, Pozor (Pondělník) XIV, 1907, no. 73, 15. 4., p. [1]

P., Poznámka k hodonské výstavě umělecké, Moravská orlice XLV, 1907, no. 98, 28. 4., p. [12]