Modernity, History, and Politics in Czech Art

by Marta Filipová

Overview

This book traces the influence of the changing political environment on Czech art, criticism, history, and theory between 1895 and 1939, looking beyond the avant-garde to the peripheries of modern art. The period is marked by radical political changes, the formation of national and regional identities, and the rise of modernism in Central Europe – specifically, the collapse of Austria-Hungary and the creation of the new democratic state of Czechoslovakia. Marta Filipová studies the way in which narratives of modern art were formed in a constant negotiation and dialogue between an effort to be international and a desire to remain authentically local.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032338224
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/13/2022
Series:	Routledge Research in Art and Politics
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	6.88(w) x 9.69(h) x (d)

About the Author

Marta Filipová is Research Fellow, Masaryk University, Czech Republic.

Table of Contents

List of Figures vii

Acknowledgement viii

Modernity - History - Politics 1

Modernities and Modernisms 5

Questions of 1928 7

Political, Historical, and Time Frame 9

Czechs and Germans 14

Book Structure 16

Conclusion 18

Notes 18

1 Modernism 23

New Platforms for Modern Art 24

Manifesting Modernism 26

Anna Costenoble in Prague: Gendered Modernism? 29

Rodin, Munch and Czech Art 34

Between Internationalism and Nationalism 38

The Persistence of National Art 42

Regional Nationalism and Regional Modernism 45

Conclusion 48

Notes 49

2 The People 56

The People as a Subject 58

"Czechoslavic" Life on Display 63

Moravian Barbizon 65

Understanding and Interpreting the Vernacular 70

The Vernacular in Architecture 72

A View from Abroad 76

Conclusion 78

Notes 79

3 Society 85

Art and the Proletariat 86

Opening Windows of Czech Art 89

Architecture and the People 94

Proletarian Art and the Capek Brothers 98

"Primitive" Art and Primitivism 101

After Proletkult: Devetsil and Poetism 103

Social art: HoHoKoKo 107

Conclusion 109

Notes 110

4 Identity 117

Czechoslovakia and the Czechoslovak Nation 118

Czechoslovak Identity and Art History 120

West or East: Affiliations of Czech and Czechoslovak Art 123

Czechoslovakism 126

The Idea of Czechoslovak Art 127

Czechoslovak Vernacular: A Critique 130

Discipline and Democracy in the East 133

Conclusion 138

Notes 138

5 Traditions 145

Traditions and the War 146

Tradition in Art History 148

Slavic Traditions and Alfons Mucha 151

Censorship and Reactionism 154

Exhibiting Contemporary Culture in 1928 159

Limits of the Avant-garde 162

The End of the Avant-garde 168

Conclusion 171

Notes 172

Conclusion 178

Modern Nation 179

Beyond the Metropolis 180

Modem Traditions 181

Art and Class 181

Critical Voices 182

Modernity, History, Politics 183

Notes 184

Bibliography 185

Index 209

Editorial Reviews

"Overall, Filipová’s arguments are quite convincing and firmly grounded inboth primary source research and secondary scholarship from various fields. ... Marta Filipová’s book will certainly inspire other scholars and advanced students to pursue further research on Czech modernisms."

—Journal of Art Historiography

"Marta Filipová’s Modernity, History, and Politics in Czech Art is a comprehensive and informative text about the sometimes overlooked artistic output of this country, and how it was affected by the tide of history. It deals well with hyper-accelerated change at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century, and serves as an excellent, dense reference book for both historical and cultural developments during this period."

—The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

"English-language readers need a book accessible to the nonspecialist that examines Czech art, architecture, and design from the perspective of nationalism and nation building. By focusing on Czech/Czechoslovak art and nation with a focus broader than the avant-garde, the book fills an important gap."

—Austrian History Yearbook

"Marta Filipová’s book, Modernity, History, and Politics in Czech Art, explores shifting relationships between art, modernity and national identity in the Czech Lands in a refreshingly direct way. ... She brings to her study a thorough knowledge of Czech traditions of art writing but also enough distance to allow her some perspective on the relationship between nationalism and Czech art history. She is deeply familiar with the primary sources and uses the tools of Anglo-American social art history to situate them in their cultural, political and national context."

—Umění/Art

From the Publisher