Prague 1900: Poetry and Ecstasy
Amsterdam / Zwolle: Van Gogh Museum / Waanders Utigevers, 1999. Hardcover. Green cloth boards with black stamped lettering; green dust jacket, color illustrated with white and black lettering on spine; 227 pp, bw frontispiece, illustrated throughout in bw and color. VG/VG. Item #182184
ISBN: 9789040093913
Catalogue published to accompany the exhibition of the same name in the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, 17 Dec. 1999-26 March 2000, and the Museum of Applied Art, Frankfurt am Main, 11 May-27 Aug. 2000--Colophon "This lavishly illustrated book introduces the world of fin-de-siècle Prague. Around 1900, city's artists and artisans began to develop a particular ornamental language inspired by the contemporary revival of Czech culture and influenced by Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, and the Vienna Secession. To begin with, lyricism and poetic symbolism dominated the visual arts. Jan Preisler, one of the most important figures of the time, created sensual paintings and sculptures based on themes connected to the writings of such Czech authors as Zeyer and Brezina. Other artists such as Kobliha and Hlavácek focused on turbulent forms, dramatic expressions of torment, and the macabre. In the applied arts, exuberant floral and vegetal motifs were gradually transformed into geometric patterns.Prague 1900 charts the effects of the emergence of modernism and the search for Czech national identity in both the fine and the applied arts, as well as in architecture, music, and literature. The book also includes a wealth of illustrations of interiors, architectural and sculptural details and documentary photographs. Biographies of the most important artists are provided, as well as a full chronology of artists and events."- publisher's description. Contents include: Prague 1900: From provincial capital to metropolis / Michael Huig -- Pictura & Poesis: The interplay of literature and art / Lubos Merhaut -- Music -- 'another world' / Marta Ottlova -- Between Salon and Secession / Roman Prahl -- Towards a new synthesis / Petr Wittlich -- Illustration as harmony / Iva Janakova -- An artistic synthesis on paper / Iva Janakova -- From ecstatic decoration to individual modernism: Applied art 1897-1910 / Sylva Petrova -- The discovery of a new beauty: The installation of exhibitions and interiors / Roman Prahl -- The violation of a dream: Post-Art Nouveau and Post-Symbolism / Alena Pomajzlova.
OCLC: 44011597
Price: $35.00