Fin de siecle. The exhibition approximates the time when art became a normal part of life

Because the West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen has lacked permanent exhibition spaces for decades, it can only show exceptional works from the collection once in a while at similar thematic exhibitions. “But hopefully better times will come, the city baths will start to be repaired, where we should still have spaces,” believes the fifty-nine-year-old Musil. At the end of last year, the Pilsen region bought the municipal spa in the center of Pilsen, which had not been used for three decades, for 120 million crowns.

According to Roman Musil, the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was one of the stormy and dynamic stages in the development of visual arts, which became an increasingly important part of the lives of Europeans and Americans. From the 1890s to the beginning of the First World War, trends such as symbolism, art nouveau and impressionism took hold. Artists began to discover new themes that reflected the moods of society – from weariness and skepticism at the end of the century to faith in the progress that the new age would bring.

The exhibition freely approximates the moods and motifs of the time: unconventional interpretations of religion, spiritualism and esotericism, fairy tales, social criticism of society, work, the countryside and its folklore, the modern way of life in the city, new entertainment and sports, all of which belonged to the time. Landscape painting became a privileged painting discipline. And specifically, Czech painters traveled to cultural centers such as Munich, Vienna or Paris, while many succeeded in a pan-European context, emphasizes Roman Musil.

The show presents works by Antonín Slavíček from the time when he worked in Kameničky in the Bohemian-Moravian Highlands, folk costumes and villagers depicted by Jaroslav Špilar, or paintings by Augustin Němejc and Václav Brožík, who came from Pilsen. There are examples of works by Alfons Mucha, Vojtěch Hynais and Luďek Marold or Jan Preisler.

The canvases and sculptures are complemented by period posters or technical innovations such as the gramophone, possibly the first recordings made with a film camera and photographs – specifically reproductions of colored slides. They capture, for example, the market in Pilsen’s Šafařík orchards or swimming in Bolevecké pond at the beginning of the 20th century.

The West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen began building a collection of art from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries when it was established in 1954. He is constantly adding to the collection.

The attractions of the current exhibition, which will last in the Masná krámy hall until September 3, include a new acquisition. Last year, the institution bought a painting by Emanuel Krescen Liška called Dawn after Good Friday. After a demanding restoration, it is now on display for the first time in about 100 years.

The monumental painting is one of Liška’s most dimensional, and it is also apparently one of the last. He worked on it until his untimely, sudden death in 1903. “The painting is still partially unfinished. It is an absolutely exceptional work of Christian symbolism. Three angels are at the foot of the cross, where the body of Christ is missing, waiting in the hope that he will rise from dead,” notes Roman Musil. “The painting was exhibited sometime in the 1920s, and since then the water has closed over it. It is now the first time in many decades that we are presenting it, and it is still in such great shape after the restoration,” adds the director of the West Bohemian Gallery. He prepared the exhibition with curator Ivana Skálova.