The Restless Figure Expression in Czech Sculpture 1880–1914 4. 5. 2016 – 25. 9. 2016

Czech figural sculpture in the period between the 1890s to the First World War achieved high artistic quality, entirely comparable with modern European works. The coming exhibition maps out these historical events on characteristic examples from the oeuvres of its leading representatives. The dynamic artistic development was launched by Josef Václav Myslbek, and it further progressed with the younger generations, in artists such as František Bílek, Stanislav Sucharda, Josef Mařatka, Quido Kocián, Bohumil Kafka, Ladislav Šaloun, Jan Štursa and many others.

Their achievements are confronted with the distinctive examples from the oeuvres of foreign sculptors who had largely influenced the Czech progress in art by their Prague exhibitions (Auguste Rodin, Constantin Meunier, Antoine Bourdelle). These works, in the form of loans from inter­national museums, will significantly enrich the exhibition’s profile, turning this project into an extraordinary event in the local context. The exhibition aims at reviving the interest of Czech public in the extraordinarily high-quality chapter of Czech cultural tradition and at highlighting certain elements, which may well serve as an inspira­tion for the present time.