Seven Decades / Galerie umění Karlovy Vary (1953–2023)

The new permanent exhibition prepared as part of the 70th anniversary of the Karlovy Vary Art Gallery presents the rich collection holdings of 20th-century Czech art and features works by classics of Czech modern art and contemporary authors – e.g. A. Slavíček, J. Preisler, J. Trampota, J. Zrzavý, J. Čapek, E. Filla, J. Šíma, M. Medek, V. Boštík, K. Nepraš, M. Rittstein, Z. Sýkora, K. Malich, F. Skála, J. Róna and others. The exhibition project was supported by the Karlovy Vary Region.

The Karlovy Vary Art Gallery is celebrating the seventieth anniversary of its existence this year. It was established on 1 January 1953 by the Regional National Committee in Karlovy Vary, and began its own activity on 5 April 1953 with an exhibition of drawings and prints by Maxmilián Švabinský. On 22 November 1953, the first permanent exhibition of Czech fine art, then still drawn from the collections of the National Gallery in Prague, was opened in its premises. At that time it was one of eight galleries of its kind in Bohemia and Moravia. The Karlovy Vary Art Gallery is the oldest and largest art museum in the Karlovy Vary region; in the main building alone, almost seven hundred exhibitions have taken place so far, visited by more than two million guests. Over 70 years, the gallery's activity has followed a remarkable path, whose direction was largely shaped by the political and cultural history of our country. The ideologically constrained fifties, the more relaxed sixties, and two decades of normalization grey: exhibition plans often favoured ideologically motivated titles, only occasionally interspersed with interesting exhibitions of genuine (not regime-compliant) personalities of Czech fine art. A fundamental turn came only after November 1989, when the gallery could finally freely prepare highly attractive exhibition projects by previously banned artists. In the last two decades, while the gallery has been run by the Karlovy Vary Region, it has succeeded in improving economic conditions, increasing attendance, opening the institution to new educational activities and cross-border cooperation, expanding publishing activity and improving promotion. As part of the jubilee, a new permanent exhibition has been prepared, presenting the rich collection holdings of Czech art of the 20th and 21st centuries and featuring works by classics of Czech modern art and contemporary authors (e.g. A. Slavíček, J. Preisler, J. Zrzavý, J. Čapek, E. Filla, J. Šíma, M. Medek, V. Boštík, K. Nepraš, M. Rittstein, Z. Sýkora, K. Malich, F. Skála, J. Róna). The festive opening will take place on Thursday 23.11.2023 at 17:00. The celebrations will conclude with an extraordinary concert by one of our leading cellists, Jiří Bárta, and pianist Terezie Fialová; from 19:00, works by 20th-century composers will be performed.

installation:

opening:

articles:

• https://zak.tv/sedm-dekad-galerie-umeni-karlovy-vary
• https://www.idnes.cz/karlovy-vary/zpravy/kultura-umeni-vytvarne-galerie-vyroci-oslava.A231123_761571_vary-zpravy_melu?fbclid=IwAR35i2DV59KQdNcWRz2G0y90FfmSMYrNF-p9TaIyYy6dLQglg3KXsPiROnw