Exhibition of the Collection of 19th-c. Art of the National Gallery in Prague in collaboration with the Museum of Decorative Art in Prague

Convent of St George at Prague Castle

Author-curator of the exhibition: Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová

Assistant: Šárka Leubnerová

On behalf of the Museum of Decorative Art: Helena Koenigsmarková, Helena Brožková, Daniela Karasová, Jiří Nimrichter, Eva Uchalová

Architect: Vladimír Hora
Graphic design: Jan Hora

Exhibits on loan from: Administration of Prague Castle
National Technical Museum
Prague Municipal Museum
Česká pojišťovna, a.s.
Gallery Kodl Prague
Pohled near Havlíčkův Brod
Private art collectors

Patron of the NG: Synot Lotto, a.s.
Main partner of the NG: Unicredit Bank
Partner: Adjust Art
Main media partner: Hospodářské noviny
Media partners: Art & Antique, Classic FM,
ČRo 3 - Vltava

The Collection of 19th-c. Art transferred its permanent exhibition to the Convent of St George at Prague Castle, once the collection of Baroque art moved to the carefully restaured and reconstructed Schwarzenberg Palace.

It is an established truth that 19th-century art, as the art of every historical period, reflects not only the historic and social conditions of the time, but also its philosophical thought; it responds to the stimuli and conditions of the period, while accepting many ideas from the heritage and traditions of past ages. It is equally true that every new interpretation naturally reflects contemporary opinions and attitudes. In consequence our understanding of 19th-c.art is refreshingly new and different from that of past generations. Every new presentation of 19h-c.art should evoke our past in a way, which will be accepted and understood by our contemporaries as a refreshingly new and powerful experience.

That is the goal and purpose of the exhibition that is being opened today. The intention is to present all important 19th-c. trends in art and their chief representatives and to demonstrate how Czech art coped with contemporaneous European ideologicaland art tendencies. The collections of individual artists, mainstay of the exhibition, confirm that in its best representatives and in its specific way Czech 19th-c.art bears comparison with the art found in other European art centres. Perhaps just with a slight delay - the reason shouldl be sought in historical conditions and in the position of the lands of the Bohemian crown in the multinational Habsburg monarchy.

Under the impact of changing cultural, social and economic conditions art in Bohemia was since the late 18th century going through considerable transformations. Communication between artists and the public totally changed. With the onset of the 19th century literature, music, as well as architecture, sculpture, painting and decorative art began to express the desires, feelings and needs of the emerging middle class. Its businessmen grew rapidly rich - in its ranks were, however, not only entrepreneurs, but also representatives of the Czech intelligensia. In consequence the middle class was becoming the chief consumer and patron of the arts. The history of Czech art in the 19th century is thus also the history of 19th-c. Bohemian society.

To acquaint the visitors with the cultural climate in 19th-c. Bohemia and, more specifically, Prague, we have included in the exhibition not only paintings and sculptures, models and sketches of tombstones and monuments of personalities, who dominated the social and cultural life at the time, but also examples of decorative art. Paintings, sculptures and decorative art share similar attitudes, identical ideas and principles and thus bear testimony to the time and place of their origin, to contemporaneous society and the prevailing climate. Even for purely formal reasons the presence of sculptures and of decorative art is important for the exhibition: it highlights individual sections and helps fashion their spacial arrangement. Their role in the exhibition is twofold - on the one hand they are documents of prevailing trends in the development of art, on the other hand they serve as illustrations, e.g.portraits-busts.

The introductory part of the exhibition at the Convent of St George shows the links with late 18th-century art in Bohemia by comparing the work of Norbert Grund with that of František Xaver Procházka or of Christian Seckel with that of Ludvík Kohl. The exhibition ends with the generation born in the 1850s and 1860s, e.g. with the work of Beneš Knüpfer, Emanuel Krescenc Liška, Maxmilián Pirner or Jakub Schikaneder at the turn of the 19th and 20th century.

The exhibition follows the traditional chronological and thematic arrangement, to which was added a new element - sacred art. This was possible because the exhibition roms include a chapel, a perfect place for Myslbek's huge statues of Bohemian saints from the monument of St Wenceslas, which stands - cast in bronze - on Wenceslas Square. Visitors will also see there Emanuel Max's Crucified Christ. Actually, in the chapel motifs took precedence over chronology. Thanks to the dimensions of the convent rooms it was possible to display not only large sculptures, but also very manumental paintings, especially in the section of history painting.

      Let us end with some figures: on view are 350 paintings (8 from the Collection of Old Masters) and 54 sculptures (2 from the Collection of Old Masters) - a careful selection of the best works in the care of the Collection of 19th-century art. The period covered by the exhibition spans approximately from 1790 to 1910. On view are also collections of decorative art - glass, porcelain, silver, furniture, clothes on loan from the Museum of Decorative Art, two architectural models lent by the Technical Museum. Several exhibits have been lent by other institutions, e.g. the Administration of Prague Castle, the Prague Municipal Museum and several private art collectors.

Naděžda Blažíčková-Horová

It is already an established tradition that the Museum of Decorative Art contributes sundry exhibits to both temporary and permanent exhibitions of the National Gallery in Prague. This is also the case of the new permanent exhibition of 19th-century art at the Convent of St George at Prague Castle. The new concept of the exhibition called for a somewhat different participation of the Museum of Decorative Art. In line with the newly arranged sections of the exhibition, the Museum of Decorative Art prepared small ensembles, which illustrate the changing life style of the various decades between the period of Neo-Classicism around 1800 and the Historicism towards the close of the 19th century. The exhibits should also demonstrate the development of local production, especially in glass manuacturing, porcelain or cast iron, at the time naturally within the framwork of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Thanks to a lucky coincidence, visitors will be able to follow the development of the visual arts, including decorative art, in Bohemia at the Schwarzenbeg Palace, where the Museum of Decorative Art will open a permanent exhibition of the best achievements in lithurgical goldware and textiles; the exhibition will also include the world-famous Baroque glass from Bohemia and examples of contemporaneous banqueting and table manners. Our association with the Collection of 19th-c. Art of the National Gallery in Prague will be highly important for the exhbition Biedermeier, The Art and Life Style in Bohemia, which will open on 28 May at the Riding School of Prague Castle. For the first time this period will be presented in great detail, with most exhibits coming from Czech collections, including collections from various castles.

Helena Koenigsmarková

NG - Collection of 19th-century Art
Convent of St George