The database of art exhibitions in the Czech Lands 1820–1950 is the outcome of a long term research project of the Department of Art of 19th–21st Centuries at the Institute of Art History, Czech Academy of Sciences (IAH CAS), conceived and led by Pavla Machalíková and Tomáš Winter. The research was supported in 2019–2020 by the funds of the programme Strategy AV21 of CAS and subsequently from 2021 by the Ministery of Culture. A partner institution of the project is the National Gallery Prague. The present database presents information on important exhibitions organized in the Czech Lands during the respective time span. It focuses mainly on inland shows of contemporary artists, groups and institutions of the period, but brings information also on retrospective exhibitions, or important shows of foreign artists and groups. The database is continuously updated.
Each individual exhibition entry starts with basic data (date and place, organizer, author of the concept, exhibiting authors), including information on exhibition catalogue (attached in full PDF) and promotion materials, installation photos and a complete list of critical reactions (included in fulltext as PDF appendices or web links), ending with a choice of press releases (included as a list). If applicable, archival sources relating to the exhibition are listed as well. The digitalised texts of catalogues and reviews are available on-line, or – in accordance with the author´s law – on the premises of the study room/library of IAH. Each exhibition entry contains a brief commentary which highlights its specificities and importance for the artistic movement of the time, summarizing also available literature on the topic. A special attention is placed on the role of each respective show in the development of exhibitions as media of public presentation of artworks, which is the main reference frame for the exhibition histories since the beginning of the 19th century. The database allows search by categories, key words or full text. More information on the structure and the search system of the database is in the "Help" section. (The search system is still under construction and we apologize for all current inconveniences.) In case there is no commentary included in the entry, it is being translated (the English versions of the entries follows with a certain delay after the Czech ones) and will be posted in due time.
Conception: Pavla Machalíková, Tomáš Winter
Authors of commentaries: Magdalena Bergerová, Martina Bezoušková, Hana Buddeus, Lenka Bydžovská, Kamila Červinková, Magdalena Dědičová, Barbora Dostálová, Ivo Habán, Anna Habánová, Adéla Hanzálková, Vendula Hnídková, Tomáš Hylmar, Eva Janáčová, Robert Janás, Anna Jozefacka, Petr Kratochvíl, Tereza Langová, Karolína Lapešová, Luise Mahler, Pavla Machalíková, Alžběta Matyášová, Mahulena Nešlehová, Fedora Parkmann, Taťána Petrasová, Václav Šafka, Tereza Štěpánová, Rostislav Švácha, Tomáš Winter, Irena Zachardová, Olga Zhavoronková
Administering and updates: Lucie Česká, Pavla Machalíková
Webdesign: Colmo
Cooperation: Adéla Bytelová, Jana Kalousková, Kristýna Kučerová, Jan Salava, Eva Smržová, Barbora Tóth, Charlotte Zimová
Translations: Hana Logan