Exhibition on Decadence to Represent Czech Republic

It is no wonder that today, an adapted version of the exhibition is one of the significant accompanying events of the Czech EU Presidency. It has been a long time since Czech art was presented with such scope. The exhibition will be held in two prestigious Belgian galleries – Hôtel de Ville in Brussels and Musée Provincial Félicien Rops in Namur. The important thing is that the exhibition presents not only world-famous Czech artists such as František Kupka and Alfons Mucha, but also not so well known yet noteworthy artists. Some thirty thousand visitors came to see the exhibition in Prague, which is a remarkably high number.  “Last time an exhibition of Czech art at the turn of the 19th century of a similar size was held was almost ten years ago,” says Otto M. Urban, curator of the whole project. “Traits of Decadence are apparent in a number of works of Czech artists and in a number of different styles, such as Neo-Romanticism, early Avant Guarde, Expressionism and Cubism. The impulse for holding the exhibition in Belgium was good relations and co-operation with Musée Provincial Félicien Rops and their enthusiasm for Decadence. Our Belgium partners greatly admired the exhibition in the Municipal House, Prague and it was, without any doubt, a direct impulse for its continuation,” said Otto M. Urban. The first larger collection of works inspecting artists’ inner feelings and an agony of the individual will be installed in Brussels

City Hall. The second collection inspired by the demon of love and sexuality will be displayed in Musée Provincial Félicien Rops, Namur, situated 65 km south-east from Brussels. As far as Decadent ideas are concerned, Félicien Rops was one of the most significant personalities in the world and he inspired a great number of artists, including many Czech artists from the end of the 19th century. “It is no coincidence that a great part of the exhibition will be housed in the museum in Namur, where Rops’ erotic paintings will be interlinked with the works of Czech artists,” adds Otto M. Urban. Both exhibition wholes are linked with Decadence key themes including self-analysis by means of selfportraits, portrayals of death as a way out as well as the themes of love and sexuality. Besides such famous names as František Bílek, Karel Hlaváček, Max Švabinský, Alfons Mucha, Jan Preisler, František Kaván, Jan Zrzavý, František Kobliha and Ladislav Šaloun, there will also be less well-known artists whose works are definitely worth seeing, such as Jaroslav Panuška and Josef Mandl. The exhibits come from a number of prestigious national and private collections, e.g. the PNP, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, National Gallery and others. At first, Decadence was the name for a social phenomenon, a feeling that civilization was morally, politically and economically deteriorating. It was an attitude to life mostly presented by writers in the final third of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. Many independent styles of art have their roots in Decadence – Symbolism, Impressionism, Expressionism, neo-Romanticism, Prerafaelism, Lartpourlartism. Here are some of the world-famous Decadent literary personalities: Stéphane Mallarmé, Barbey d’Aurevilly, Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Oscar Wilde, Stephane George, Arne Garborg, Emilio Carrers, Fjodor Sologub, Dmitrij Sergejevič Merežkovskij, Stanislaw Przybyszewski and others. Czech Decadent poetry was represented by a group of authors around Moderní Revue magazine under Arnošt Procházka and Jiří Karásek of Lvovice which was published between the years 1895 and 1925. Decadent attitude is marked with a pessimistic mood, destruction, morbidity, mysticism, erotic glut but also narcissism. One of the members of the group around Moderní Revue was the Czech artist Karel Hlaváček, who found many kindred artists abroad (Félicien Rops, Odilon Redon, Edvard Munch etc.), or the Czech artist František Kaván. The exhibition will be solemnly opened on the 29th of January in Brussels and on the 31st of January in Namur. The curator of the exhibitions, Otto M. Urban, will be present at the opening ceremony as well as the organizers from Arbor Vitae Societas, PhDr. Martin Souček and Mgr. Vladana Rýdlová and Belgian institutions representatives. A guided tour of the exhibition will be organized the following day during which the curator will speak about the term Decadence and he will go on in detail about Czech Decadent creation.

Czech singer Monika Načeva and painter and scenographer David Cajthaml have prepared a remix of the famous song La Décadanse by Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg entitled La Décadanse Revisited. The song will be released as a gramophone record in a limited edition of 300 copies. On the occasion of the exhibition in Prague, an extensive publication was brought out entitled In Morbid Colours: Art and the Idea of Decadence in the Czech Lands, 1880 to 1914 with contributions by Otto M. Urban, Ph.D. PaedDr. Luboš Merhaut, Csc., and PhDr. Daniel Vojtěch, Ph.D. The book presents the phenomenon of Czech Decadence, foreign sources and parallels and the wider philosophical views of Decadent ideas. In 2007, the book was awarded the Most Beautiful Book of the Year title and was nominated for the Magnesia Litera award. There is also an English version of the monogramy available and a French-Flemish catalogue entitled Decadence.

The present exhibition, just as the exhibition Transparency 2009 in Prague, is held under the auspices of the Mayor of Prague, Pavel Bém and Deputy Prime Minister for European Affairs Alexandr Vondra.

Otto M. Urban, Ph.D.

Born 9th February 1967. In the years 1985–1990, he studied art history and aesthetics at the Department of History of Art at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague, where he also obtained his Ph.D in 2000. At the beginning of the 1990’s he worked as an assistant at the Department of History of Art at the Faculty of Arts, Charles University, Prague (1990–1994), later he worked as a researcher at the Institute of Art History at the Academy of Sciences of the CR (1994–1998). Since 1993 he has been an external lecturer of the history of modern Czech art in courses for the CIEE (1993–1999), ECES (1995–2001), AU (2001–2004), NYU (1999–2009). In the years 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2005 he was a lecturer of the history of modern Czech art at the University of Texas, Austin. In the years 2001–2008 he co-operated with The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, where he lectured in 2007. Since the beginning of the 1990’s he has been focusing on Symbolism in Central Europe, especially on Decadence. He has been the author and co-author of a number of exhibitions (e.g. František Kobliha 1990, Moderní Revue 1995, Karel Hlaváček 1998, 2003, Alfred Kubin, 2003), he has published scholarly papers on Decadence and Symbolism in various Czech and foreign specialized magazines. His texts have also appeared in a number of anthologies (e.g. Totenmesse, 1995, essays on Munch, Hlaváček and Przybyszewsk) and scholarly publications (e.g. Důvěrný prostor/Nová dálka 1997, Prague 1900–1938, 1997, František Bílek 2000, Prostibolo Duše 2000). In 2002 Otto Urban was the author and editor of the monograph Výtvarné a Kritické Dílo Karla Hlaváčka. In 2003 he co-authored the monograph Alfred Kubin: Rytmus a Konstrukce. In 2004 he wrote an essay on the painting creation of Arnold Schönberg in his text monograph Styl a Idea. In 2006, Urban published a book entitled In Morbid Colours: Art and the Idea of Decadence in the Czech Lands 1880–1914. In 2007 he co-authored the monograph Edvard Munch: Být sám.

Publisher and Production Company:

ARBOR VITAE

The Arbor Vitae company was founded in 1992. Since its very beginning the company has focused on art books, catalogues, monographs, the production of exhibitions. Since 1998 it has been publishing its De Arte series consisting of diaries, essays, memoirs or quotes of major Czech and international artists. The series, consisting of almost 30 titles today – received the very first Most Beautiful Book of the Year Prize awarded by the Ministry of Culture. The Texts on Architecture series publishes basic works of Czech and international architecture. The Vera Effigies series publishes text monographs of major artists at both the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries (Karel Hlaváček, Alfred Kubin, Arnold Schönberg, Eduard Munch).

The Louisa series is devoted to fairy-tales and legends. The AV series focuses on poetry, fiction and literary essays. Monographs and catalogues published by Arbor Vitae have received many awards: in 2006 Arbor Vitae books won the main awards in two categories of the Most Beautiful Book of the Year Prize. The publisher works closely with the Gallery Klatovy/Klenová, the Exhibition Hall Mánes, Egon Schiele Art Centre in Český Krumlov, Moravian Gallery in Brno, Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague Castle, Municipal House in Prague and many other Czech and international institutions. In 2006 Arbor Vitae was awarded the Czech Literary Fund Prize for their contribution to the Czech book market. Simultaneously, Arbor Vitae realizes exhibitions of modern and contemporary art in prestigious Czech galleries, for example the exhibitions In Morbid Colours in the Municipal House, the Brussels Dream in the City Gallery Prague, the retrospective of Martin Mainer entitled Blague Looms Blague/Calm Looms Calm and the large retrospective of sculptor Eva Kmentová in the Exhibition Hall Mánes, František Skála in Vienna, Bimba – Adventures of Bohumil Konečný in the Municipal House and many others.