The National Gallery Prague presents an exhibition that opens the theme of skating and hockey in visual art. Since skating on frozen canals, lakes and rivers in 17th and 18th century Holland, this social pastime has moved to the Czech landscapes and Prague, and has become a common part of winter for all classes of people. By the beginning of the 20th century, real hockey was already being played, the first ice rinks were being built and the sport began to be seen as part of the national identity. And it gradually found its place as a theme in art, and for some artists it became a free field for artistic experimentation.
The exhibition will present a number of interesting works from private and institutional collections, as well as works by contemporary artists, some of which were created specifically for the occasion of this hockey championship.It opens up a topic that has not been treated or presented in a more comprehensive way and invites the general public to explore the reflections of this fundamental sport for the Czechs in art. The exhibition is accompanied by a Czech and English catalogue.
The exhibition will feature approximately one hundred artworks across media. There will be paintings by old masters such as Pieter Brueghel II and Norbert Grund, as well as the most prominent representatives of 19th century Czech art - August Bedřich Piepenhagen, Karel Purkyně and Antonín Barvitius. The Prague ice-skating rinks of T. F. Šimon, Otakar Nejedlý and Karel Holan will also be presented. Marcel Niederle's drawings will then draw the audience into the world of hockey and the first big games and victories, photographs will recall the construction of the first ice rink at Štvanice and many hockey moments. In addition to classical treatments of the theme in painting and drawing, the experimental artistic approaches of Jiří Kolář, Vojtěch Tittelbach and Theodor Rotrekel are also presented. The 1990s, in addition to the phenomenal success in Nagano, opened up new possibilities, which are manifested in art on the subject of hockey, especially with a critical or even ironic outlook, as seen in the works of Krištof Kintera, Jiří Surůvka or Ondřej Kohout. The exhibition concludes with the works of nine contemporary artists who have created new works on the theme of hockey on the occasion of this year's hockey championship. They include Jakub Špaňhel, Alena Kotzmannová, Jan Vytiska, Paulina Skavová and Karel Štědrý.
The exhibition is open until 27 October.
Related events:
Talking about art - lecture Sport in contemporary art: the search for identity and metaphor of postmodern civilization
October 10, 6-7 p.m.
The lecture by journalist and writer Petr Volf, who has long been involved in sports themes in visual art, focuses on the 21st century, when the work of artists includes hyperbole, irony and a critical perspective. It is no longer just a matter of capturing the fascination with movement that has played a fundamental role in the history of art, but of pointing out the paradoxes and oddities associated with sport or sending warning signals of exaggerated nationalism. The artist, who participated as a curator in the exhibition On Ice!, will present not only hockey works, but also paintings, sculptures and installations on the themes of cycling, football, skiing and other sports.
Price: free (the lecture does not include entrance to the exhibition) / Duration: approx. 60 min. / Meeting place: on the 2nd floor of the Kinsky Palace / Booking on GoOut
Gnews - Jana Černá
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