Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

Association of German Artists in Bohemia (Verein deutscher bildender Künstler in Böhmen) was established in 1895 but its first large Rudolfinum show did not take place until 1907. Before that, the Verein exhibited in Ovocná Street, across from the Ditmar House [Adler 1895]. In December 1896, the Verein’s Christmas show was opened in the winter garden of the Hotel de Saxe (Sächsischer Hof), a luxury hotel in Hybernská Street and in the following years the group moved its activities to the garden house of the chamber councillor Franz Sobotka at 11 Bredovská Street (nowadays Politických vězňů). The exhibition at the Sächsischer Hof Hotel was later recalled by Steiner-Prag as "a total financial fiasco, which was still tragicomically celebrated years later” [Steiner-Prag 1933, p. 12]. In the first decade of its existence, the Verein also exhibited outside Prague, in Cheb, Vienna, Ústí nad Labem and other cities.

The introduction to the catalogue of the 1907 Rudolfinum exhibition, probably written by Karl Wilfert Jr., says: “The Verein deutscher bildender Künstler in Böhmen believes that the best way to start the path of new development is to let new talents and new trends have their say in this exhibition” [Katalog Verein 1907]. This was meant as a contrast to Verein’s Liberec show in 1906: “And now the young team came forward with delightful courage. They were themselves; the establishment gave them a free hand. In Liberec, the young and youngest were still unable to fully present themselves, (…) they could not stand their ground against the old team’s different character” [F. M. 1907]. Despite the proclaimed support for young art, this period saw a fundamental generational and likely also personal split, and the catalogue text in fact foreshadowed the “secession” from the Verein in 1908, when the older, founding generation left and a new association of German speaking artists in Bohemia was established. Although in 1906 the Verein was headed by artists with traditionally close ties to Vienna – Paul Leppin, Oskar Wiener and Ferdinand Staeger – the 1907 exhibition brought a fundamental change in direction: “a separate booth was dedicated to the young Georg Kars; Max Oppenheimer, a fresh graduate from the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, also received ample space as did the representative of Wiener Werkstätte Michael Powolny and the established Secession artist Berthold Löffler. Max Horb, very young at the time, exhibited his oil painting At the Alster, Hamburg. In contrast, the existing matadors of the Prague German art scene, such as Karl Krattner, Franz Thiele, Wenzel Franz Jäger and Josef Zasche, were not represented. Even architecture found a new, truly worthy representative in Rudolf Bitzan” [Habánová 2016, p. 64].

The Czech press traditionally paid marginal attention to exhibitions of German speaking artists and this show was no exception. Volné směry published a short note in its rubric Kronika (Chronicle): “The exhibition of the Association of German Artists in Bohemia (...) calls attention to the work of its young generation in a sympathetic catalogue introduction. However, the impression from this large and diverse exhibition is not nearly so sympathetic. There are many hard-working young people here, attracted by all kinds of modern trends and aspirations, influenced by teachers and admired models, but revealing little immediate connection to nature and as yet very little of that inner necessity and conviction which no learned or acquired skill can replace. True painterly talent shines through in the work of Mr. Kars, despite his overblown Liebermannesque mannerism, and in Mr. Oppenheimer’s paintings with all their schoolboy-like diligence; (…) Mr. Wierer’s work is an outburst of pathetic Biedermeier convention; (…) among the others, very few stand out, for better or for worse” [Volné směry 1907].

The reviewer (Richard Teschner?) for Prager Tagblatt mentioned the presentation of 600 works, of which the catalogue lists 289. Separate rooms were devoted to Georg Kars (“A Prague-born artist living abroad, currently in Spain ... Kars's collection is a surprise in itself”), Paul Lumnitzer (“A completely different, calm character, immersed in a quiet observation of the world”) and August Brömse (“He presents his paintings for the first time here. His tempera technique alone reveals that the artist is taking his own path.") [tsch. 1907]. This review also informs us that the large central hall housed paintings by Max Oppenheimer, portraits by Karel Kostial, Ferdinand Staeger and Ferdinand Michl, as well as prints and sculptures by other artists.

A few brief notes in Prager Tagblatt suggest that the exhibition was very well attended and that the artists managed to sell their works, including applied art objects (by Max von Spaun and Michael Powolny), but also paintings by Georg Kars and Gustav Croy, and many other works.

Anna Habánová

Works Cited

Adler 1895: F. A. [Friedrich Adler], Weihnachtsausstellung des Vereines deutscher bildender Künstler, Prager Tagblatt XIX, 1895, no. 339, 8. 12, p. 5

Steiner-Prag 1933: Hugo Steiner-Prag, Aus einer Kneipzeitung des Vereins deutscher bildender Künstler in Böhmen 1896, Prag 1933

Katalog Verein 1907: Výstava spolku Verein deutscher bildender Künstler in Böhmen (exh. cat.), Rudolfinum, Praha 1907

Habánová 2016: Anna Habánová, Dějiny uměleckého spolku Metznerbund 1920–1945, Liberec 2016

F. M. 1907: F. M., Ausstellung des Vereines Deutscher bildender Künstler in Böhmen, Deutsche Arbeit VI, 1907, no. 6, pp. 397–399

Volné směry 1907: Výstava spolku německých umělců v Čechách, Volné směry XI, 1907, p. 82

tsch. 1907: tsch., Ausstellung des Vereines der deutschen bildenden Künstler in Böhmen. II., Prager Tagblatt XXXI, 1907, no. 23, 23. 1., p. 10

Anonymous author, Erzherzog Karl Franz Josef in der Ausstellung der deutschen bildenden Künstler., Prager Tagblatt XXXI, 1907, no. 23, 23. 1., p. 3

Anonymous author, Ausstellung des Vereines deutscher bildender Künstler, Prager Tagblatt XXXI, 1907, no. 41, 10. 2., p. 12

Anonymous author, Ausstellung des Vereines deutscher bildender Künstler in Böhmen, Prager Tagblatt XXXI, 1907, no. 45, 14. 2., p. 9

Anonymous author, Ausstellung des Vereines deutscher bildender Künstler in Böhmen, Prager Tagblatt XXXI, 1907, no. 48, 17. 2., p. 11