Výstava uměleckých děl Karla Liebschera | Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820

Commentary

The landscape painter Karel Liebscher died on April 20, 1906 at the age of 55. Many Czech newspapers and magazines published at least a mention of his sudden death, and some of them featured more extensive texts recapitulating the painter's work and his significance for Czech landscape painting. At the beginning of the 20th century, Karel Liebscher’s role was perceived differently than in the 1880s and 1890s, when he and his brother Aldolf Liebscher were at the height of their success. Compared to modern landscape painters, he was treated with a certain benevolence, as a representative of a bygone era. The critics suggested that Liebscher’s talent was limited but that he made the best of it, always remaining true to himself: “The smoothness of his execution and the sweetness of his coloring put him at odds with the modern trend in landscape painting, but that was not fair. This was his specialty, and he was right to reject the criticism and reproaches of those who promoted fashionable slogans.” [Harlas 1906] Renáta Tyršová appreciated Liebscher's straightforward approach to landscape, and although his work had its limitations, “he leaves behind a trace of solid effort and practice” [Tyršová 1906]. In October 1906, the magazine Máj brought a longer text by J. V. Šimák, in which he praised Liebscher's perseverance in his artistic career, which he began at the age of thirty. Almost simultaneously, Květy published personal memories of Liebscher by Ludvík Kuba.

At the end of November, Liebscher's posthumous exhibition, probably initiated by members of his family, opened to the public. It was intended to be a tribute to the deceased, as well as to generate some profit from the artworks. By this time, Liebscher was no longer considered part of the contemporary art scene, so no gallery would show his work: The exhibition was held in a rented room on the mezzanine floor of an apartment building on the corner of today's Na Perštýně Street and Národní třída. The first painting in the exhibition was Liebscher’s portrait by his brother Adolf. At the beginning of December, representatives of Umělecká beseda (Artistic Forum) laid a wreath under it, an act that received a few mentions in the press. [Anonymous author 1906] A photograph of the ceremony was published in Český svět. The exhibition showed about 150 paintings, mostly from the artist’s estate, with a few works from private collections. About half of them were oil paintings, the rest of the exhibition consisted of drawings and watercolours. The subjects included landscapes from the Czech lands, but also from Slovakia, Germany, the Balkans and Italy, and one watercolour represented Liebscher's visit to Paris.

As an illustrator for the magazines Světozor and Zlatá Praha, as well as for the popular illustrated publications Čechy (Bohemia) by Jan Otta and Hrady a zámky (Castles and Chateaus) by Augustin Sedláček, Liebscher was one of the most well-known Czech artists of his time and so announcements of the exhibition appeared in a number of regional newspapers and magazines – Venkov, Jizeran, Plzeňské listy, Ohlas od Nežárky, and even in Osvěta americká, published in Nebraska, USA. While these short texts reported on the high attendance (especially by school groups) and the sale of the works, which visitors could buy as gifts in the run-up to Christmas, there are very few actual reviews assessing the artistic quality of the works. The periodical Besedy lidu published a short text celebrating Liebscher as a pure romantic. Karel B. Mádl included Liebscher’s exhibition in his review of the concurrent exhibitions held by the Mánes Association and JUV (Union of Fine Arts). As in previous years, his opinion of Liebscher was not very high. For Mádl, Liebscher was first and foremost a realist painter whose realism, however, was cold and detached: “And so K. Liebscher tells about the landscape as best he can; he does not portray it, he does not sing about it, without breaking into a song himself” [Mádl 1906]. Mádl criticized both Adolf and Karel Liebscher for their routine execution, superficiality, and lack of expression. The exhibition, which the regional press announced as a symbolic farewell to an artist whose works would probably never be seen together again, had no chance of attracting the attention of the professional public in competition with other shows, such as the concurrent exhibition of Constantin Meunier at the Rudolfinum.

Markéta Vondrová

Works Cited

Anonymous author 1906: Anonymous author, Výstava děl Karla Liebschera, Národní listy XLVI, 1906, 2. 12., p. 3

Harlas 1906: F. X. Harlas, Karel Liebscher, Zlatá Praha XXIII, 1905–1906, no. 29, pp. 347–348

Mádl 1906: Karel B. Mádl, Dvě výstavy, Národní listy XLVI, 1906, 2. 12., p. 17

Tyršová 1906: Renáta Tyršová, Za Karlem Liebscherem, Osvěta XXXVI, 1906, no. 6, pp. 522–526

Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

1906
Exhibition of Works by Karel Liebscher

Works Cited

Further Reading

Databáze uměleckých výstav v českých zemích 1820 – 1950

1906 Exhibition of Works by Karel Liebscher

Works Cited

Further Reading

1906
Exhibition of Works by Karel Liebscher