GACR

Czech Vasari" Jan Jakub Quirin Jahn (1739–1802) and his conception of the history of visual arts in Bohemia
ID: GA23-05042S  (project cooperation with Institute of Art History Czech Academy of Sciences)
Investigator: Mgr. Radka Heisslerová, Ph.D.
Status: Active
Investigation Period: 2023–2025
Programme: GACR

One of the most prominent personalities among the artists of the second half of the 18th century in the Czech lands was Jan Jakub Quirin Jahn (1739–1802), a painter, draftsman, member of the Vienna Academy of Painting and a valued connoisseur. He dealt with painting on both a practical and theoretical level. His artistic work is rated relatively high, but he is even more valued for his work in the field of art theory. In literature Jahn is often referred to as the first art historian in the modern sense, art critic and also as the Czech Vasari, because he was the first local biographer of artists. His manuscript on the history of visual arts in Bohemia, preserved in the artist's written estate in the Archive of the National Gallery in Prague, is still not fully appreciated. The project will focus in particular on the circumstances of the creation of the unique manuscript and Jahn's relations not only with contemporary Czech, but also foreign personalities, through research of archival sources and contemporary literature, which has not yet been undertaken in this regard.

Architecture (f.). Women, emancipation, architecture in the second half of the 20th century
ID: GA21- 22749S (project cooperation with Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague)
Investigator: Mgr. et Mgr. Helena Huber-Doudová
Status: Active
Investigation Period: 2021–2023
Programme: GACR
CEP Link

The research project will focus on comprehensive mapping and interpretation of women's creativity in the field of architecture between 1945 and 2000 - in the context of structural sociopolitical changes in Czech Republic (former Czechoslovakia). The project will deal not only with the interpretation in terms of history of architecture (inserting women architects into the canon), but also with interdisciplinary overlap (sociology, general history, gender studies) - i.e. topics such as the practice of architectural profession, education of women architects, synthesis of professional and family life, or reflection and recognition of women architects (representation in museum collections, professional journals, academia, management). The project will present women in the whole spectrum of their activities, as architects, theorists, historians, designers, but also officials and mediators.

The Painter Josef Mánes (1820–1871)—between Romanticism and Realism, Applied
ID: GA 19-10562S (project in cooperation with the Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences)
Investigator: Mgr. Markéta Dlábková, Ph.D.
Status: Active
Investigation Period: 2019–2021
Programme: GACR
CEP Link

The project is aimed at the analysis of the work of Josef Mánes (1820–1871), whose work has become an intrinsic part of the Czech culture of the 19th and the following 20th century. It will deal with research of the work of Mánes in the context of domestic and European art and will take into account contemporary methodological approaches, which in recent decades have fundamentally transformed the research of 19th-century art and enabled its contextual analysis. Within the framework of the project individual specialists therefore focus on important themes which call for a fresh viewpoint (for instance the concepts of modernity or realism, national–ideological connections, stylistic and formal aspects of creativity or the contextual comparison of painting technique) and make it possible to overcome the simplifying approach of publications from the first half of the 20th century, in which Mánes was presented chiefly as an isolated phenomenon. The project’s purpose is to provide a new analysis of Josef Mánes’s work, contextualizing it in 19th-century Czech and European art production. The project will result in a Czech-English collective monograph treating the key themes of the artist’s work using topical art history approaches. 

Karel Škréta (1610–1674) and Thesis Prints in the Czech Lands
ID: GA 19-18098S
Investigator: PhDr. Petra Zelenková, Ph.D.
Status: Active
Investigation Period: 2019–2021
Programme: GACR
CEP Link

Karel Škréta is considered the founder of Czech Baroque painting, and an artist of European significance. As a draughtsman, he played a pivotal role in the formation of Baroque graphic art in Bohemia. The engravings he designed represent the finest examples of the 17th-century graphic arts in the Central-Europe. The most interesting part of his oeuvre are his thesis prints—high-priced works announcing university defences. These graphic sheets were an important tool of representation, and are characteristic for their original subjects, combination of textual and visual components, and abundant iconography. Škréta excelled in designing thesis prints and belongs to the most prolific inventors of university graphic arts (the applicant has already registered some 50 realizations). Škréta’s thesis prints are outstanding examples of Baroque allegory, symbolic and rhetoric, which makes them artefacts of extraordinary cultural and historical value. However, no attempt to list and study them systematically has been undertaken, let alone an attempt to create a comprehensive catalogue. The project will result in the first comprehensive monograph of thesis prints designed by Karel Škréta. Expert chapters will be followed by a catalogue of university graphic art and relevant designs. Every piece of art will be accompanied by a thorough interpretation and properly contextualized.

From the Balloon to the Cosmic Consciousness: Aviation in Czech Visual Culture
ID: GA16-24117S
Investigator: PhDr. Eva Bendová, Ph.D.
Status: Active
Investigation Period: 2017–2019
Programme: GACR
CEP Link

The project will bring a systematic analysis of the phenomenon of aviation and its projection into Czech visual culture between the years 1783 (the first balloon flight) and 1957 (the launching of the first cosmic probe). The project’s research aim is to present the topic through the key question of how aviation rhetoric and poetry have developed a specific dialect of modernity alongside the politically coloured jargon of post-war development and the concept of progress. The project will place emphasis on the Czech specifics in an international context, taking into account the characteristic environment of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, post-war developments and the different roles aviation played in the cultures of Western and Eastern Europe. The project will be based on a detailed investigation of primary and secondary sources, including technical documentation and relevant visual material (public statues, popular visual resources, specialized periodicals, paintings, illustrations, prints, some from the funds of the National Gallery Prague). The project outcome will be a monograph treating the key aspects of this multi-faceted area.

Formation of Czechoslovak Collections of Modern Chinese Painting in the Interwar Period and their Significance for the European Art World
ID: GA16-13587S
Investigator: Mgr. Michaela Pejčochová, Ph.D.
Status: Completed
Investigation Period: 2017–2019
Programme: GACR
CEP Link

Czechoslovakia was among the first European countries where collections of contemporary Chinese ink painting were formed in the interwar period (ca. 1920–1940) and these were presented to the public through specialized exhibitions and publications. The project proposes a detailed description of collecting, educational and commercial activities of collectors such as Vojtěch Chytil (1896–1936), and other figures active in collecting Chinese ink painting of the day in Czechoslovakia between the wars. Further, the project aims at analysing these collections as to their content and quality, highlighting their primacy in Europe and their distinctive qualities in comparison with collections that emerged in Germany, France, and Great Britain. The project will also emphasize the direct link between interwar Czechoslovak collections and the general awareness of the qualities of various modern Chinese painters in the Czech artistic milieu up to the present day. The outcome of the project will be an illustrated monograph published both in Czech and English.