The permanent collection of 19th and 20th century landscapes in Pardubice’s East Bohemian Gallery showcases the paintings by stellar Czech artists of this genre. Located on the chateau grounds, the gallery organizes temporary exhibitions on the ground floor and a small space on the upper floor while most of the first floor is reserved for its landscape painting collection. The room may not be huge, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in content. It is worth a visit for those art lovers who want to explore east Bohemia.
A painting called Velehory introduces the collection, portraying realistic, high, craggy mountains that show the power and strength of nature. The two people in the painting are minuscule in size. They look as if they are about to be swallowed up by the mountains because they are so small compared to the vast natural scenery. One is standing near the edge of a mountain. Is this person going to jump? The painting is permeated by this mystery.
The gallery displays a forest scene by one of the most renowned landscape painters of the second half of the 19th century, Julius Mařák. He studied in Munich and spent time traveling throughout the Czech lands. He also visited Vienna, the Balkans and the Tyrol. Mařák decorated the Royal Box of the National Theatre. His landscapes adorn the staircase of Prague’s National Museum. Mařák’s depiction of a forest shows a tranquil yet sad landscape. The details in this painting are impressive. The work pulls the viewer into the forest on a mystical journey. Mařák also made a name for himself as a professor for 12 years, becoming a mentor to many top-notch painters.
One of Mařák’s students was Antonín Slavíček, whose work is prominently displayed in the gallery. Color is key in his creations. Light and shadow also play important roles. His landscapes were inspired by Impressionism. Slavíček’s paintings also have an emotional quality. After Slavíček suffered a stroke that affected the right side of his body, painting became difficult for him. Distraught and depressed, he eventually shot himself and died.
Antonín Hudeček’s work is another highlight. He also was influenced by Mařák’s teachings. Even though Hudeček did not study with Mařák, he was friends with some of Mařák’s pupils. His post-Impressionist renditions are emotional, tinged with melancholy. Hudeček spent much time traveling, living in Sicily for a while and later in the Tatra Mountains of Slovakia. He also spent time in the Carpathian Rus region. He subsequently settled in Častolovice in east Bohemia, where he lived the last 14 years of his life.
Several works by Jan Zrzavý grace the gallery’s walls. This master artist was not only a painter but also a graphic artist, illustrator, teacher and scene designer for the National Theatre during the 20th century. I was drawn to one of his paintings depicting boats and the sea. The influence on his work of Italian primitive art and Paul Gaugin’s style is manifest. His Symbolistic elements derive from medieval art. His use of light is another important feature. The colors are cheerful, but the paintings seem somehow to evoke sadness. He also evokes a dreamy atmosphere, akin to magic realism.
Like Slavíček’s paintings, Václav Špála’s works are all about color. With broad brushstrokes he creates a landscape out of typically two colors or various hues of the same color. Indeed, intense color is the key to Špála’s poetic paintings that have a two-dimensional quality. His artwork often shows traits of Fauvism or Cubism.
The gallery also highlights works by Antonín Chittussi, one of the most significant Czech painters of the 19th century. Chittussi’s renditions of nature are emotional and dynamic, influenced by French Impressionism and Pointillism. There is a definite sadness to his landscapes that are also poetic. Chittussi was proud to be Czech. He organized a protest against a German art history professor teaching in Prague when the professor asserted that early Czech art derived from German art. Chittussi spent five days in jail for taking this brave stance, but the protest had the desired effect. The professor was forced out of the university.
The collection also includes a 20th century painting by František Tichý. This work has a mysterious quality, showing black-and-white objects in the act of falling. Tichý was a very versatile artist. He was a painter, illustrator, graphic artist and scene designer who often created circus-related works and even designed costumes for a circus. He also drew caricatures for a magazine, edited the arts section for a publishing house, created advertisements, designed jewelry and painted still lifes and portraits. He loved the commedia dell’arte.
The gallery, located in the center of Pardubice on the grounds of the chateau, also operates Dům u Jonáše, a building on Pernštýn square, which is flanked by beautiful Renaissance houses. The ticket for the chateau museums does not include admission to the gallery.
East Bohemian Gallery
Východoceská galerie
Zámek 3, Pardubice
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Tracy A. Burns is a writer who has lived in Prague for more than 25 years. She has written about travel for her blog Tracy’s Travels at www.taburns25.com, Private Prague Guide Prague Blog and The Washington Post, among others. She has also published theatre, film and art reviews. Her book reviews and essays on Czech and Slovak literature have appeared in Kosmas, a Czechoslovak academic journal. Her articles in Czech and Slovak have appeared in numerous publications, such as Listy, Literární noviny and Reflex.