Date: Grand opening January 24 / Open to public viewing from January 25 - April 21, 2013

Venue: National Museum of Contemporary Art (NMCA), Korea, Seoul

Number of works on view: 107 paintings

Exhibition concept:  Helena Musilová (Curator of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of the National Gallery in Prague / SMSU NG)

Exhibition curator: Jienne Liu (NMCA, Seoul)

NG's collaborators: :  Jana Šmídmajerová (SMSU, NG), Dagmar Konvalinková, Petr Kuthan (Art Restoration Department, NG), David Stecker (Photography Department, NG), Magda Němcová (Registrar's Office, NG)

For the first time ever, the National Gallery in Prague, in partnership with the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, presents abroad the largest body of works of Czech Modern Art in the Czech Republic's modern history. Helena Musilová, the author of the exhibition's concept, has assembled a comprehensive selection of 107 paintings by twenty-eight Czech artists, spanning the period from 1905 until 1943. Entitled "Memory of a Landscape I Have Never Seen" (the title was taken from the name of an exhibited painting by Josef Šíma), the exhibition showcases the very best of Czech Modernism.

For three months, visitors to Seoul and its inhabitants will have the opportunity to view paintings by František Kupka, Josef Šíma, František Muzika, Emil Filla, Karel Teige, Toyen, Josef Čapek, Jindřich Štyrský, Bohumil Kubišta and other prominent artists of this period. All works come from the National Gallery in Prague's collections and are frequently shown at a number of prestigious exhibition venues.

At this very moment, on Thursday January 24, 2013, at 5 p.m. local time, i.e. at 9 o'clock a.m. Central European Time, the exhibition entitled "Memory of a Landscape I Have Never Seen" has been festively opened in Seoul. The grand opening is attended by the Ministers of Culture of both countries - Alena Hanáková, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, and Choe Kwang-Sik, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as well the National Gallery's General Director Vladimír Rösel, Helena Musilová, the author of the exhibition concept, and numerous other guests.

Several years ago, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul initiated the idea of presenting Czech Modern Art in Korea. After the museum's representatives visited the Czech Republic and the National Gallery in Prague in 2011, the concept of the exhibition project was finalized, focusing on painting and its transformation during the period under consideration. The collection of 107 paintings by Czech Modernist artists represents the finest works of that era both in the Czech and European contexts, while offering a comprehensive survey of a particular artistic medium.

 

Date: Grand opening January 24 / Open to public viewing from January 25 - April 21, 2013

Venue: National Museum of Contemporary Art (NMCA), Korea, Seoul

Number of works on view: 107 paintings

Exhibition concept:  Helena Musilová (Curator of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of the National Gallery in Prague / SMSU NG)

Exhibition curator: Jienne Liu (NMCA, Seoul)

NG's collaborators: :  Jana Šmídmajerová (SMSU, NG), Dagmar Konvalinková, Petr Kuthan (Art Restoration Department, NG), David Stecker (Photography Department, NG), Magda Němcová (Registrar's Office, NG)

For the first time ever, the National Gallery in Prague, in partnership with the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Korea, presents abroad the largest body of works of Czech Modern Art in the Czech Republic's modern history. Helena Musilová, the author of the exhibition's concept, has assembled a comprehensive selection of 107 paintings by twenty-eight Czech artists, spanning the period from 1905 until 1943. Entitled "Memory of a Landscape I Have Never Seen" (the title was taken from the name of an exhibited painting by Josef Šíma), the exhibition showcases the very best of Czech Modernism.

For three months, visitors to Seoul and its inhabitants will have the opportunity to view paintings by František Kupka, Josef Šíma, František Muzika, Emil Filla, Karel Teige, Toyen, Josef Čapek, Jindřich Štyrský, Bohumil Kubišta and other prominent artists of this period. All works come from the National Gallery in Prague's collections and are frequently shown at a number of prestigious exhibition venues.

At this very moment, on Thursday January 24, 2013, at 5 p.m. local time, i.e. at 9 o'clock a.m. Central European Time, the exhibition entitled "Memory of a Landscape I Have Never Seen" has been festively opened in Seoul. The grand opening is attended by the Ministers of Culture of both countries - Alena Hanáková, Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, and Choe Kwang-Sik, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as well the National Gallery's General Director Vladimír Rösel, Helena Musilová, the author of the exhibition concept, and numerous other guests.

Several years ago, the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Seoul initiated the idea of presenting Czech Modern Art in Korea. After the museum's representatives visited the Czech Republic and the National Gallery in Prague in 2011, the concept of the exhibition project was finalized, focusing on painting and its transformation during the period under consideration. The collection of 107 paintings by Czech Modernist artists represents the finest works of that era both in the Czech and European contexts, while offering a comprehensive survey of a particular artistic medium."The journey was long, but the preparations, transportation and installation of the works went without a hitch, and the exhibition in Seoul is lovely. The two different approaches employed during the installation of the selected works in the exhibition space brought interesting artistic confrontations and new perspectives," says Helena Musilová, author of the exhibition concept and curator of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art of the National Gallery in Prague, who, over the past months, was in charge of preparing the representative selection of paintings for Korea from the National Gallery's holdings of modern and contemporary art. In the past few days, Musilová and her colleagues supervised the safe transportation of the artworks under stringent security measures and their installation, in collaboration with the Korean exhibition curator. Petr Kuthan, Head of the Conservation Department of the National Gallery in Prague, travelled to Seoul to control the condition of the paintings at their destination and to supervise their installation in situ.

 

            Guarantees of the safe return of the artworks were facilitated by the National Gallery in Prague and the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, in cooperation with officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic. Owing to the paintings' extreme artistic worth, the export license was subjected to circumspect examination on the part of the Czech Ministry of Culture. "The approval procedure reflects the exceptional status that the National Gallery's art collections hold since 2011, due to the Diag Human case. We are convinced that shortly the situation will be rectified and standard conditions re-established, and that the National Gallery in Prague will resume its due place in the international arts community. We have worked rigorously toward this objective. Guarantees provided by our South Korean partners are above-standard," stated Vladimír Rösel, General Director of the National Gallery in Prague.

The exhibition is accompanied by a book with essays written by Korean and Czech scholars. The National Gallery in Prague expresses its thanks to the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Seoul, namely H. E. Mr. Jaroslav Olša, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Korea, for their support and assistance.

Division of the exhibition:

The art display is divided into three sections. An independent area is devoted to paintings by František Kupka, which document the artist's road to non-figurative and abstract art.

A. 1905-1918

The exhibition opens with the year 1905, when a comprehensive exhibition of the art of the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch was presented in Prague, an event that had a formative impact on Czech modern art. A great many superb paintings were created during this period, which initially embraced the broad current of Expressionism and gradually underwent a visual transformation into the Cubist idiom. Czech Cubism in particular holds an outstanding place within the context of European art, as Czech artists grasped and further innovated the aesthetic principles of this art movement, developing them into distinctive, wholly original forms.

B. 1918-1930

The year 1918 marked the end of World War I and the establishment of the new, Czechoslovak State. The founding of the independent Czechoslovakia had a visible impact on the Czech fine arts: optimism and playful experimentation with form and content, on the one hand, and civilist and social themes, on the other. A broad range of artistic approaches and subject matter emerged during this period; the paintings on display attest to the plurality and great variety that characterized Czech art at the time.

C. 1930-1939

Czech art during this period broke away from its models, introducing its own concepts that resonated with the overall character of art abroad. Furthermore, the surreal and imaginary paintings expressed concern over the political and social developments that led to the tragedy of World War II. In this section, particular attention is given to paintnigs by Josef Šíma, who, close to Surrealism, adopted an innovative creative approach to aspects of light and simple form, and to those of Emil Filla and his "Fights and Struggles" series.

Interest in Czech art, Czech culture and the Czech Republic is on the rise in South Korea. The National Gallery in Prague expresses its hope that this exhibition will be a successful presentation of Czech art in Korea, as well as an impetus that will draw art-loving visitors to the National Gallery in Prague, considering that the Czech Republic is one of the most popular destinations for Korean tourists.

"The National Gallery's collections may serve Korean art connoisseurs and tourists as a window into European art. Although relatively small in size and surrounded by large and politically and/or economically powerful neighbouring states, both countries have passed through similarly important stages of development and adopted new sources of inspiration in art and culture. While this exhibition constitutes a comprehensive and representative selection of Czech Modern Art, it is but a fraction of what the National Gallery in Prague still has in store," observed Vladimír Rösel, General Director of the National Gallery in Prague. It is clear that following the presentations of Czech film, classical music and literature, the exhibition of Czech painting in Korea is yet another significant step towards further promoting the two countries' mutual cultural and commercial ties.

Moreover, Seoul is becoming the venue of prominent international art shows. Concurrently with the Czech Modern Art display, Vincent Van Gogh's paintings are on view in the city, and a Tim Burton exhibition is being hosted at the Seoul Museum of Art. The Czech art exhibition will be followed by a retrospective of Paul Gauguin's oeuvre. "It is of interest to us - as the authors of the exhibition's concept - to observe how our Korean colleagues and broad public "read" Czech art. Besides the anticipated interest in František Kupka, other paintings and artists are drawing considerable attention, namely Toyen, the collection of socially-conscious art of the twenties and the work of Emil Filla created before World War II. Surprisingly, two pictures by Vlasta Vostřebalová-Fischerová, a little-known painter in Bohemia, are also meeting with an enthusiastic response," adds Helena Musilová

The National Museum of Contemporary Art / NMCA

The National Museum of Contemporary Art at Deoksugung specializes in exhibitions of Korean and world art created between 1900 and 1960. As the only art museum in South Korea, the National Museum of Contemporary Art is devoted to the presentation of Korean and foreign modern and contemporary art. Founded in 1969, the museum was transferred to Deoksugung Palace in 1973. In 1998, the National Museum of Art at Deoksugung was incorporated into the National Museum of Contemporary Art with the aim of providing a structured framework for the emergence and history of Korea's modern art. Besides its exhibition activities, the museum engages in research and educational projects, holds academic lectures and published books.

On January 1, 2006, the National Museum of Contemporary Art was transformed into an independent entity, facilitating the institution's organizational change and transformation into a modern, open museum catering to all categories of visitors.

Deoksugung Palace (NMCA) occupies an area of over 3,000 sq. metres and an exhibition space extending 1,100 sq. metres. Currently, NMCA hosts two major exhibitions:

From the Collections of the National Gallery in Prague: "Memory of a Landscape I Have Never Seen: Czech Modern Art 1905-1943"

Modern Masterpieces from the Museum Collection: Poetry and Dreams - Korean Art from the Beginning of the 20th Century through the 1950s.

The two parallel art shows are, in a way, analogous with regard to the recent history of these small nations neighbouring on powerful states: one situated in the heart of Europe bordering on Germany and not far from the former Soviet Union, and the other, on the Korean Peninsula close to Japan and adjacent to the Soviet Union. During the first half of the 20th century, Korea experienced the darkest era in its history (From 1910 to 1945, the country was under Japanese military occupation and was annexed by the Empire of Japan. In World War II, the Koreans were forced to fight on the side of Japan. After Japan's capitulation, the Korean peninsula was divided into two occupied zones - North Korea was occupied by the Soviet Union, and South Korea by the United States. This division led to the declaration of the brutal Korean War conflict (1950-1953), with the peninsula divided to this day.) Despite these historical hardships, Korean artists never ceased to sing their dreams and present their own versions of Paradise, as can be seen in the paintings shown together with poetry, exposing the reality of those times. The exhibition features one hundred masterpieces by 55 artists who represent Korea's modern art, including An Choong-sik, Ko Hui-dong, Lee Sang-beom, Lee Chong-woo, Chu Kyung, Oh Ji-ho, Ku Pon-ung, Lee Jung-sup, Park Soo-keun, and Kim Whan-ki.

Press release issued on January 24, 2013

Media contact:

Eva Kolerusová, Public Relations Department, NG, phone: +420 724 501 535

E-mail: kolerusova@ngprague.cz