In 2000, the National Gallery in Prague held a large retrospective of the work of Jiří Kolář. His work was presented again in the Trade Fair Palace a few years ago at the exhibition Correspondage, which focused on his inspiring correspondence with the young French journalism student Beatrice Bizot in the 1980s. However, we must return again and again to prominent figures such as Jiří Kolář to find new ways of looking at their work and seeing their versatile oeuvres from different angles. The exhibition ***Jiří Kolář: Grimace of the Century*** concentrates on a selection of his artworks connected with his poetry; this illuminates the unorthodox way in which he formulated his commentary on the world. His Diary 1968 is a major part of the display – a series of 66 collages covering the dramatic events of that year. Groups of often unknown artworks are also on display, showing the artistically open way Kolář created the “Orbis Pictus” of our time from the second half of the 1940s to the end of his life. The selected work includes items from the National Gallery, Kampa Museum, Jiří Kolář Estate, Neues Museum Nurnberg and other private collections.
**Curators: Marie Klimešová, Milena Kalinovská**
**Marie Klimešová** graduated in Art History at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague (FFUK). For many years, she worked as curator at the Prague City Gallery and the National Gallery in Prague (where she was also acting director of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art) and collaborated with the Raven Row art exhibition centre in London. She has realized dozens of major monographic and synthetic exhibitions devoted mostly to the new, comprehensive valuation of Czech art of the second half of the 20th century (including Focal Points of Revival: Czech Art 1956-1963, Years in Days: Czech Art 1945-1957, Zbyněk Sekal, Běla Kolářová, Jiří Kolář and other exhibitions). All her exhibition projects have been accompanied by authoritative publications. Currently, Klimešová is Senior Lecturer at the Department of Art history of FFUK (from 2003).
*The exhibition is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the CR. It si part of celebrations commemorating important events in Czech history marked by the year 2018. For the list of all events that are held in the framework of the celebrations, visit the website [czechandslovakcentury.com](https://czechandslovakcentury.com/en).*
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