When the muses fell silent

Inter arma silent Musae - In times of war the muses fall silent, goes the classic dictum derived from Cicero, which is reflected in Prague City Gallery's exhibition "The End of the Avant-Garde? From the Munich Agreement to the Communist Takeover," which covers the very worst time for art in the 20th century: the years 1938 to 1948.

The interwar period was unbelievably potent in the field of art, as a number of movements and isms appeared on the world art stage. However, World War II dealt a dramatic and brutal blow to artists. A team of curators led by Hana Rousová has prepared an exhibition showing what happened to Czechoslovak art and artists during and shortly after World War II, reflecting a current understanding of the historical context. Contemporary video artist Zdeněk Baladrán has contributed his own artwork to the show and also handled the exhibition's architectural design.

The Nazis had a precise concept of how correct art should look: Paradoxically, a regime led by a small, thin and dark-haired dictator celebrated tall, muscular and blond human beings. For the famous "Degenerate Art" propaganda exhibition held in Munich in 1937, the Nazis chose the best avant-garde art, mostly by German artists. Roughly 5,000 works by such artists as Emil Nolde, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and others were put on display to persuade the audience of its effeteness. After the fall of the Nazi regime, having been included in this exhibition was considered a great honor.

It is known that a black list of degenerate artists existed for Germany and Poland, but not until preparations for the current exhibition was it known that there was also a list of degenerate artists for the Nazi-occupied Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, with such names as Kamil Lhoták, František Muzika, Václav Špála, Jan Zrzavý and František Hudeček. Art historian Milan Pech recently discovered the list, written in 1944, and it is one of the most impressive pieces of the whole exhibition, though it is nothing more than a few words on white paper. Together with a letter by painter Adolf J. Alex attacking Modernist painters such as Jan Trampota by asking how it was possible that such an artist was still allowed to exhibit, the documents underline the suppressive nature of every totalitarian regime.

"The End of the Avant-Garde?" is a question put forth by poet Kamil Bednář in the influential essay Slovo (Word) from 1940. His view, which was also the prevailing view of the young generation, was that, yes, the avant-garde was over. Having a historical distance together with an understanding of art developments after World War II, viewers can today answer these question for themselves.

Most of the exhibited pieces of art were created by very young artists, the majority of whom were in or around their 20s.

General features common to most of the works by these artists reflect previous art tendencies, employing some of their achievements but not following the strict rules of each ism. Nor did these artists understand art and the avant-garde as tools to lead society toward a more righteous future. Their outlook was, on the contrary, very individualistic and personal. Curator Hana Rousová describes this art as "an effort for communication that didn't really work." The times are pertinently recalled by examples of propaganda, and historical context is provided for photographs.

One example of such propaganda is the Operation Victoria campaign by the BBC to encourage people to draw the letter "V" everywhere as a symbol of the coming victory. However, the Nazi propaganda machine stole the idea, claiming that the "V" was a symbol of successful Nazi campaigns.

"The End of the Avant-Garde?" starts with a reconstruction of the "Art Tchécoslovaque 1938-46" show at Galerie La Boetie in Paris. The curators of the first postwar introduction of Czechoslovak painting in France were the famous Czech painter Josef Šíma, who was then living in Paris, and the poet Paul Éluard. Art historian Anna Pravdová has worked with the original French exhibition catalogue to recreate the presentation. However, it was not possible to fully reconstruct it, as some paintings were simply called "Painting" in the original catalogue, and others had vanished.

Therefore, this section is divided into two parts: A green wall represents what was actually in the Galerie La Boetie show and the white wall opposite is an educated guess at what might have been on display, based on the dates of paintings and other clues.

These paintings reflect the solitude of the time, which is very well expressed in a line by poet Vratislav Effenberger from 1945: "I was standing in the middle of Europe and there was a silence as before a storm." This sentiment is illustrated by Kamil Lhoták's nostalgic paintings of Prague suburbs without people though with balloons and motorbikes, for example, or by Toyen's Sad Day, an apocalyptic post-war landscape in which bare, clasped hands depict the loneliness of the era.

The current exhibition follows the successful show "Years in Days," which focused on 1945-1957. "The End of the Avant-Garde?" deliberately doesn't follow the easier path of presenting acclaimed art groups such as Skupina 42 or RA, which would surely gain wide attention. The curators chose to focus on art that expresses the realities of war as experienced by artists living through it to determine what that art may have to say to viewers today. The conclusion is clear: Quality art survives and its message remains urgent.

Filip Šenk can be reached at
fsenk@praguepost.com