Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

The artist association Group 42 (Skupina 42) first formed at the turn of the 1940s. Members of the future group – František Gross, František Hudeček, Jan Kotík, Jiří Kolář, Miroslav Hák and Ladislav Zívr – exhibited together in the theatre of Emil František Burian and met regularly in Hák's photographic studio on Na Poříčí Street in Prague. In addition to their artistic interests, three of these artists – Gross, Zívr and Hák – shared the same birthplace, the town of Nová Paka. When Burian's theatre, for which Hák was working, closed down in 1941, their meetings ended. However, they started again in the spring of 1942 upon the initiative of Jindřich Chalupecký, and in November that same year the artists established a group with a basic artistic program drafted up by Chalupecký. Soon Jan Smetana, Kamil Lhoták and Jiří Kotalík joined the group. Although Zívr and Hák lived in Nová Paka when the group was first formed, František Gross told them about the initiative [Hylmar 2012, p. 43]. The group was established in the moment when another association of young artists named Seven in October (Sedm v říjnu) disbanded, following their third exhibition.

Supported by František Čeřovský, a lawyer and art collector, František Gross began preparing the first collective public show of the Group 42 [Hylmar 2012, p. 44]. In January 1943, František Gross, Ladislav Zívr and Miroslav Hák met in Nová Paka, as they planned to hold the exhibition there. All three of them had connections to local dignitaries (Zívr's father was the town's mayor), an advantage they exploited to the fullest. The exhibition took place under the auspices of the Municipal Education Committee and the National Partnership, both based in Nová Paka. Through the National Partnership in particular, it was possible to secure the exhibition politically and ensure that the artists were not branded as “degenerate.” The education committee was headed by Ambrož Těhník, a professor at the local high school and a member of the city council, who simultaneously held the position of National Partnership's cultural officer. Josef Tauchman was the district chief of the National Partnership and Josef Kubíček was its secretary. The district administration in Jičín approved the exhibition on March 19, 1943.

On Sunday March 21, 1943, the exhibition was officially opened in the Nová Paka secondary school building. Josef Tauchman made the opening address, followed by František Čeřovský. Jiří Kotalík then had a lecture in which he introduced the visitors to the group's basic premises [Hylmar 2010, p. 329]. The exhibition included nine artists: painters Lev Šimák, Kamil Lhoták, František Hudeček, František Gross, Jan Smetana; sculptors Ladislav Zívr and Jindřich Soukup, and the photographer Miroslav Hák. The painter Šimák and the sculptor Soukup, both from Nová Paka, were invited as guests; most group members knew them personally. Šimák was a member of the Art Club (Umělecká beseda) and often exhibited in Prague; Soukup was the group members' fellow student at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts.

The exhibition in the school's auditorium included 73 items in total. František Gross, with fifteen paintings was the best represented artist at the exhibition, followed by František Hudeček with ten paintings. Lhoták and Smetana brought six paintings each, while Kotík had four. Zívr placed eight sculptures in the exhibition hall and Hák had six photographs there. The exhibition catalogue contains the list of artworks and the text of Kotalík's opening lecture.

However, the exhibition was marked by inauspicious events. Soon after the opening, the Gestapo arrested Josef Kubíček and Zívr's sister Milada for hiding parachutists. As a result, the district administration decided to close the exhibition on April 2, two days before its official end.

This first public appearance of the Group 42 confirmed that the group's existence was meaningful and that the works on display corresponded with the group's program. Moreover, the show was a financial success because a number of artworks were sold [Typlt 1997, p. 55]. However, responses to the exhibition remained limited to the regional press and the artists' close friends. In September that same year, the group's members organized another exhibition, this time at Prague’s Topič Salon. It again included works by František Gross, Miroslav Hák, František Hudeček, Jan Kotík, Kamil Lhoták, Jan Smetana and Ladislav Zívr. This show managed to draw art critics' attention. However, as the war continued, the artists had less freedom in their work. František Hudeček, Kamil Lhoták, Jan Smetana and František Gross were even placed on the index of forbidden artists, and from then on, the group only met in private. Group 42 resumed its activities soon after the occupation ended, organizing an exhibition at the Poš Gallery in Prague in August 1945.

Tomáš Hylmar

Works Cited

Hylmar 2010: Tomáš Hylmar, První výstava Skupiny 42 pohledem Ladislava Zívra, Umění LVIII, 2010, pp. 326–335

Hylmar 2012: Ladislav Zívr. Deníky 1943–1944 (ed. Tomáš Hylmar), Praha 2012

Typlt 1997: Jaromír Typlt, Konfese Ladislava Zívra, Brno 1997

Further Reading

Marie Klimešová, Věci umění, věci doby. Skupina 42 (ex. cat.), Západočeská galerie v Plzni 2011

Eva Petrová, Společenství individualit, in: Eva Petrová (ed.), Skupina 42, Prague 1998, pp. 15–105

Eva Petrová, Skupina 42, in: Zdeněk Pešat – Eva Petrová, Skupina 42. Antologie, Brno 2000, pp. 409–429

Hana Rousová, Skupina 42, in: Konec avantgardy? Od mnichovské dohody ke komunistickému převratu (kat. výst.), Galerie hlavního města Prahy 2011

Ladislav Zívr, Vzpomínky (ed. Josef Sůva), Hradec Králové 1989

Archival Sources

Archive of the National Gallery Prague, fonds Ladislav Zívr (1909–1980), Rukopisy vlastní, Deník [Artist's Manuscripts, Journal], 1943–1944

Archive of the National Gallery Prague, fonds Jiří Kotalík (1920–1996), Korespondence a dokumentace, Skupina 42 [Correspondence and Documentation, Group 42], 1942–1994

Archive of the National Gallery Prague, fonds Eva Petrová (1928–2012), Dokumentace, Skupina 42 [Correspondence and Documentation, Group 42], 1942–1998

State District Archive Jičín, fonds Okresní úřad Jičín [Jičín District Administration] (1850–1946), Výstavy [Exhibitions], 1943–1945

State District Archive Jičín, fonds Archiv města Nová Paka [Nová Paka Archive] (1601–1945), Pamětní kniha obecní [Municipal Memorial Book], 1940–1945

Výstava v Nové Pace, Hlas našeho venkova XXIV, 1943, no. 13, 26. 3., p. 4