Prague Secession

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The Prager Secession (also Prager Sezession ) was an association of German-speaking visual artists in Prague , which existed from 1928 to 1937.

history

prehistory

On October 28, 1918, Czechoslovakia proclaimed itself an independent state. In the border areas of Bohemia , Moravia and Moravian-Silesia , which are predominantly populated by Germans , the majority of residents refused to be included in the new state. The province of German Bohemia and the province of Sudetenland as well as the districts of Böhmerwaldgau and German South Moravia have declared their affiliation with German Austria , citing the peoples ' right to self-determination that has just been declared . Czechoslovakia insisted on the "historic lands of the Bohemian crown" and in November 1918 Czech troops occupied these areas. The demonstrations held on March 4, 1919 against it were bloodily broken up by the Czechs. The Treaty of Saint-Germain of September 10, 1919 confirmed that the areas inhabited by Germans would remain in Czechoslovakia. The state's own organization was ended.

For the German-speaking artists, who usually saw themselves as part of the Austrian art scene, the new situation of belonging to a national minority means uncertainty. They now needed their own association, which should by no means mean a demarcation from the Czech art scene, especially since some, such as Willi Nowak , Maxim Kopf or the sculptor Mary Duras, felt they belonged to both milieus. In 1920 the Metznerbund (named after the sculptor Franz Metzner ) was founded. From this alliance emerged several groups, including the post-expressionist, spiritual tendencies following group Die Pilger in 1920 with members such as Anton Bruder, Mary Duras, Josef Hegenbarth , Alfred Kubin , Maxim Kopf and Moriz Melzer . In 1923 the group broke up again and in 1924 the Prague part of the Metznerbund also disbanded . After a joint exhibition with Mary Duras, Maxim Kopf contacted former members of the group The Pilgrims , graduates of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague and other artists in June 1927 . Shortly afterwards, the Young Art group was founded, but it only existed until 1928 (officially 1929). Members of the group included Anton Bruder, Alfred Dorn, Mary Duras, Friedrich Feigl , Fritz Kausek, Karl Klein, Maxim Kopf, Riko (Emerich) Mikeska, Grete Passer (Schmied), Ludwig (Ludvík) Püschel, Marta Schöpflin, Richard Schrötter , Charlotte Schrötter-Radnitz , Karl Vogel, Karl Wagner Gabriele Waldert and Alois Rudolf Watznauer.

Prague Secession

On November 28, 1928, the first general assembly of the newly founded Prague Secession took place. The core of the Prague Secession consisted mainly of members of the Junge Kunst group , which was disbanded shortly afterwards. The first chairman was Maxim head. The selection committee for exhibitions was made up of Mary Duras, Fritz Kausek, Maxim Kopf, Willi Nowak, Ludwig Püschel, Charlotte (Lotte) Radnitz, Karl Vogel and Karl Wagner. The four-member committee for planning and executing exhibitions was formed by Mary Duras, Fritz Kausek, Maxim Kopf and Karl Vogel. An exhibition was held annually in Prague. The supporters of the Prague Secession included representatives of the German-speaking elite, such as the bank Petschek & Co, the pencil manufacturer L. & C. Hardtmuth , Count von Colloredo-Mansfeld , Count von Boos zu Waldeck , Otto Federer, Ernst Kaun, the lawyer and City Councilor of Aussig Karl Osthof, Rolf Passer, Rosa Stutzová, Friedrich Weinmann and Max and Anne Schmied. The Prague Secession was dissolved in 1937.

Members

  • Anton Bruder (1898–1983), painter and graphic artist, founding member
  • Josef Dobrowsky (1889–1964), painter, joined 1931 (or 1934)
  • Alfred Dorn (1892–1975), painter, graphic artist, educator, glassblower, founding member
  • Mary Duras (1898–1982), sculptor, founding member, writer
  • Friedrich Feigl (1884–1965), painter, founding member, chairman 1934–1937
  • Richard Fleissner (1903–1989), painter and graphic artist, joined in 1932
  • Kurt Hallegger (1901–1963), painter and stage designer, joined in 1932
  • Oswald Hofmann (1890–1982), sculptor, joined in 1931
  • Fritz Kausek (also Bedřich Kausek ) (1890–1962), painter, founding member, deputy chairman
  • Karl Klein (1903–1943), painter, graphic artist, founding member
  • Otto Kletzl (1897–1945), art historian, cousin of Alfred Kubin , founding member, secretary
  • Wilhelm Klier (1900–1968), painter, joined in 1931
  • Maxim Kopf (1892–1958), painter and sculptor, founding member, chairman 1929–1930
  • Riko (Emerich) Mikeska (1903–1983), painter, educator, founding member
  • Willi Nowak (1886–1977), painter, lithographer and university professor, founding member, chairman 1930
  • Grete Passer (blacksmith) (1900–2003), painter, founding member
  • Ludwik (Ludvik) Püschel (1905–1967), painter, founding member, clerk, later managing director
  • Martha Schöpflin (1902–?), Wood carver, founding member
  • Richard Schrötter (also Schroetter ) (1893–?), Painter, founding member
  • Charlotte Schrötter-Radnitz (1899–1986), painter, founding member
  • Arnold Schück (1897–1974), painter and graphic artist, founding member, accountant
  • Ernst Süssland (also Sussland ), bank director, chairman of the Masonic lodge Adoniram zur Weltkugel , founding member, accountant
  • Karel (also Karl ) Vogel (1897–1961), sculptor, founding member, chairman 1932–1933
  • Karl (also Karel ) Wagner (1887–1966), painter, founding member, chairman 1931
  • Gabriele Waldert (1902–1991), sculptor, founding member
  • Alois Rudolf Watznauer (1904–1973), painter, graphic artist, photographer, educator, founding member

Corresponding members

Exhibitions

The annual autumn exhibitions were held at the Art Association for Bohemia at 12 Pštrossova Street in Prague. In addition to members and corresponding members , guests also exhibited, including Max Beckmann (1930), Karl Hofer (1929, 1930), Paul Klee (1931, 1936), Oskar Kokoschka (1930, 1936, 1937), Georg Kolbe (1931), Wilhelm Thöny (1929, 1935, 1936) and Elisabeth Wolff (1934). Over the years, Egon Adler , Jan Alster, Jakub Bauernfreund (also Jacob Bornfriend ), Felix Bibus, Edith Fleissner-Plischke, Kurt Gröger, Hella Guth, Karl May , Maria (Mia) Münzer-Thorwart also exhibited at the autumn exhibitions (also Mia (Münzer or Munzer) Le Comte ) (1935, 1936, 1937), Endre Nemes , Viktor Planckh, Rudolf Pollak, Gertrude Salus, Ilona Singer-Weinberger, Max Slevogt , Fritz J. Stonner, Inge Thiele-Peschka, Otto Ungar and Oswald Voh. In 1931 the Prague Secession organized a memorial exhibition for Eugen von Kahler in the Art Association for Bohemia .

Outside of Prague exhibitions were organized in Budweis , Brno , Ostrau , Košice (1931) and Teplitz-Schönau (1933). Prague Secession members were also represented at international exhibitions in Karlsbad and Nuremberg (1931).

literature

  • Oskar Schürer : The "Prager Sezession" (1st exhibition) in German Art and Decorations , Issue 1, October 1929, pp. 312-315 ( digitized version )
  • Oskar Schürer: On the exhibition of the Prague Secession (2nd exhibition) in German Art and Decorations , Issue 1, October 1930, pp. 314–317 ( digitized version )
  • Otto Kletzel: Two years "Prager Secession" in Witiko. Journal for Art and Poetry of the literary Adalbert Stifter Society , No. 3, 1931, pp. 185–192
  • Roman Prahl, Lenka Bydžovská: Free directions: The magazine of the Prague Secession and Modernism , Torst, Prague, 1993, ISBN 80-85639-16-5
  • Vojtěch Lahoda: Germans and the fine arts in Bohemia: From Osma to Prager Sezession , pp. 250-253 in German and Czechs: History, Culture, Politics , CH Beck , Munich 2001 (and 2003), ISBN 978-3-406-45954 -2 ( digitized version , reading sample)
  • Anna Habánová: Graz-Prague - an axis of modern art. Wilhelm Thöny and his relationships with the artist group " Mánes " and the Prague Secession in Wilhelm Thöny. In the wake of modernity , Universalmuseum Joanneum Graz, 2013, pp. 190–193, ISBN 978-3-86678-796-4
  • Anna Habánová (ed.): Young lions in a cage - artist groups of German-speaking visual artists from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia in the interwar period , Arbor Vitae, Řevnice 2013, ISBN 978-80-7467-026-8

Web links

Commons : Prague Secession  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ From heading Time of Uncertainty in the text The lions stir again
  2. ↑ Information on Petschek & Co
  3. ↑ Main sources: The Czech Wikipedia pages of Die Pilger , Junge Kunst and the Prague Secession
  4. ↑ See Dobrowsky Josef, painter
  5. ^ Page on Mia Le Compte
  6. ^ Entry in the catalog of the memorial exhibition, University of Marburg