Czech Photography of the 20th Century

The Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany presents Czech Photography of the 20th Century, on view until July 26, 2009. The exhibition was prepared in cooperation with the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. The exhibition Czech Photography of the 20th Century will, for the first time in Germany, attempt to fully map out the history of Czech photography and visual art works which draw on photography, from pictorialism through avant-garde photography and 1920s-1940s` photo montage through to a wide spectrum of present trends. The exhibition will aim to present all of the major trends, creators and works in Chech photography, gathered from many Czech and international collections, public or private. Naturally, the show will focus on key figures such as Frantisek Drtikol, Josef Sudek, Jaroslav Rössler, Jaromir Funke, Jindřich Štyrský, Vilém Reichmann, Emila Medkova, Jindřich Streit, Viktor Kolář, Antonín Kratochvíl, Jitla Hanzlová and others, but the intention is also to display many less-known works of quality by others and bring attention to photographs that were influenced by ideological pressures of the time during World War II and the Stanilist era of the 1950s or the Communist „Normalisation“ period after Czechoslovakia`s occupation in 1968. In this way the show will provide a full picture of how Czech photography developed in the 20th century, and at the same time, remind visitors of the photographic and photo montage work of German photographers who lived or found asylum in Czechoslovakia between World War I and World War II. In addition to the actual photographs and photo montages, whose authentic originals will be on display, with only a very few exceptions, the show will also features excerpts from important photographic publications in book format, journals or catalogues from various time periods. The vast material will be arranged into several chapters by chronological order and creative style.