9 December 2005 - 2 April 2006
National Gallery in Prague, Wallenstein Riding school

The exhibition is held by the National Gallery in Prague, Collection of 19th-century art

The exhibition is held under he auspices of Přemysl Sobotka, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic

Concept of the exhibition: Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová

Authors of the texts: Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová, Tomáš Sekyrka, Tomáš Hylmar, Peter Rusnák

Curator: Veronika Hulíková

Architect: Vladimír Hora

Graphic design of the exhibiton: Jan Hora

Layout of the catalogue and other printed materials: Zdeněk Ziegler

Partners of the exhibition: National Theatre, Termo +
Media partners: Týden, Nedělní svět, Classic MF, Český rozhlas 3 - Vltava, Art and Antiques, Metro, Xantypa
Financial partner of the educative services: HVB Bank

František Ženíšek belonged to the last generation of "patriotic artists", whose chief contribution to Czech fine art was their work for the National Theatre and the National Museum in Prague, their most striking characteristic an enthusiastic interpretation of the ideas of national Revival, a typical trait of the 19th century, often misunderstood by subsequent generations.

Son of a wealthy Prague trader, he complied with his parents' wishes and attended a technical secondary school, while getting his grounding in painting from Karel Javůrek, his private tutor. In 1863-1865 he trained at the Prague Academy of Art under Eduard Engerth and then in 1865-1866 at the Academy in Vienna. He returned to the Prague Academy, where he continued his training in 1866-1874 under Matthias Trenkwald and Jan Sweerts. In 1875 he left, via Vienna, for Belgium, where together with Bohumír Roubalík he painted, after Sweerts's designs, murals at the main hall of the Courtray town hall and was influenced by Belgian history painting. Together with Josef Tulka and Max Pirner he painted in 1875-1877, after Trenkwald's sketches cartons for the stained-glass windows of the Votive church in Vienna. In 1877 he shared in Prague a studio with Antonín Chittussi. In 1878 he visited Paris and a year later he travelled with Mikuláš Aleš to Italy. Once back in Prague, he devoted all his time to drafts for the competition for the National Theatre and to the definitive paintings. In 1884 he spent some time in the Netherlands with Josef Sebastian Daubek, friend and chief patron of his art. In 1885-1896 he taught at the School of Arts and Crafts in Prague, with Jakub Schikaneder as his assistant. From 1896 until 1915 he was professor at the Prague Academy. He trained many painters, among them his son František.

Towards the close of the 19th c. Ženíšek was a much appreciated portrait painter. In fact, portraits stand for a substantial proportion of his work. He was also an excellent draughtsman and painter of histories and allegories - perhaps best known are his Oldřich and Božena and Destruction of the Adamites. His chief contribution to the decorations of the National Theatre are several monumental paintings. Among other major Prague commissions are his designs for the stained-glass windows at the church of SS Cyril and Methodius in Karlín and one of his last commisssions - the decorations of the Grégr rooms at the Municipal House.

After one century and on the basis of the very first detailed analysis of Ženíšek's work, viewed - so we hope - without prejudice, unhampered by contemporaneous judgements and contexts, we may say that perhaps Ženíšek's most striking features were his strict discipline, an ability to present clearly and in a pleasing manner the artistic ideals and demands of his time and, above all, his mastery at drawing, particularly appreciated by his contemporaries. Ženíšek contributed substantially to the high standards of Czech drawing in the last third of the 19th century. The roots of his work, of both paintings and drawings, should be sought in the Central European version of academic art, with emphasis on local traditions. Unmistakable were his repeatedly stressed links with the work of Josef Mánes. Nor can we overlook the influence of Viennese classicist Renaissance and of French Classicism. Ženíšek was a great admirer of Ingres and like Ingres he saw in the drawing the chief means of expression, colour playing only a subsidiary role.

A certain conservatism and, above all, the pathos never absent from his academic figure painting, of which he was a leading representative, earned him the admiration and apppreciation of his contemporaries; later, however, he was not only to a large extent ignored, but even harshly rejected by the next generation, which upheld avant-garde ideas and the aesthetics of the new century. The allegorical glorification of national ideals, of prime significance to Ženíšek and his contemporaries, meant nothing to the generation, which emerged at the turn of the century. Ženíšek, and not only he, was criticized for his traditionalism, routine craftsmanship and patriotic sentimentality. The new generation absolutely refused his ethnological interest, historicism and academic approach. Among Ženíšek's severe critics were even some of his former students.

Needless to say, this adverse assessment was tinged by the antagonism of generations, something that exists even today and is more pronounced in the arts than in the sciences. The development of art is never straightforward, some ideas fall on fertile ground, rapidly influence contemporary artists and often act as incentives for the future. In every generation we find artists, who consciously continue along the lines of past periods, while others explore new trends, seek originality and reject everything that existed before them.

Both appreciations of Ženíšek, the admirative as also the adverse one, are conditioned by the time of their origin and simply express the aesthetic attitudes of different generations. The two poles no doubt exist even today. Some visitors (and critics) will see in Ženíšek's art "works that attract short-lived admiration", while others will appreciate his exceptional gift for elegant drawing and his specific contribution to allegorical figure painting, which in the 1880s and 1890s held a significant place in European painting. In its context Ženíšek's role was by no means negligeable, although he really considered form more important than content, a criticism voiced even at the time of his greatest fame. There was nothing new in the motifs of Ženíšek's paintings. Actually, in public commisssions, which in his work predominate, the subject was usually fairly accurately defined.

In the society of his time Ženíšek's role was no doubt important. His drawings and paintings were to the liking of a major part of the public, which appreciated his taste and aesthetics, expression of his feelings and views.

Contemporary viewers will perhaps appreciate Ženíšek's masterly technique - faultless drawing, ingenious composition and an ability to be at one with the demands and subjects of the last quarter of the 19th century.

Exhibition catalogue -256 pages, price 950,- Kc

The exhibition is open daily, except on Mondays,
from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Address: Wallenstein Riding School (Valdštejnská jízdárna), Valdštejnská 3, 110 00 Praha
Phone: 257 073 136

Admission: 100.- Kč, concessions 50.- Kč, family 150.-Kč

The exhibition has been prepapred by the National Gallery in Prague - Collection of 19th-century art
phone: 224 301 111
Special events organized by the Educative Service of the Collection of 19th-century art
e-mail: suds@gprague.cz, www.ngprague.cz

Contact person for journalists: Petra Junwirthová, Head of the press and communicatons servce of the NG,
phone: 22 32 14 59, mobile: 606 166 513, e-mail: jugnwirthova@ngprague.cz

SPECIAL EVENTS
Information and booking: Educative service, Collection of 19th-century art,
National Gallery in Prague, phone: 224 301 OO3, e-mail:
lect-suds@ngprague.cz