The Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava has its own collection of paintings, drawings and graphic works by leading Spanish artists who were based in Paris. This exhibition brings together 67 works – mainly drawings and graphic pieces, but also a selection of outstanding paintings. It focuses on the period around 1946, when Prague’s Mánes gallery hosted its first post-war exhibition of non-Czech art (under the auspices of the Czechoslovak government). Entitled “The Art of Republican Spain”, the exhibition was very warmly received; a large number of the exhibited works remained in Czechoslovakia as part of various collections, including some in Ostrava. Some of the artists, such as Óscar Domínguez, were repeatedly invited to exhibit their works in Prague, Brno, Olomouc and Bratislava up to 1949, when the Communist Party began to promote the principles of “socialist realism” and modern art fell out of favour.

Pavel Štěpánek

The Gallery of Fine Arts in Ostrava holds a set of works by a group of Spanish artists whose post-war oeuvre had a major influence on Czech art. The members of the “School of Paris” (including Antoni Clavé, Ismael González de la Serna, Julio González and the most prominent member of the group, Óscar Domínguez) exhibited in Czechoslovakia during the post-war years, and some of them spent lengthy periods in the country. They provided a vital impulse by reviving the tradition of modernism in Czech art.

This exhibition presents the works of the Spanish artists held by the gallery – representing one of the largest collections of Spanish art in the Czech Republic.

Jiří Jůza

Exhibited authors:
Francisco Bores, Antoni Clavé, Honorio García Condoy, Óscar Domínguez, Luis Fernández, Pedro Flores, Julio González, Roberta González, Ismael González de la Serna, Hoyos, Baltasar Lobo, José Palmeiro, Ginés Parra, Joaquín Peinado, Hernando Viñes, Manuel Viola

Virtual tour HERE
OPENING HERE
GUIDED TOUR with curator HERE

Opening 4 May at 5 p.m. and guided tours with curator Pavel Štěpánek will be streamed live on Facebook and the gallery’s YouTube channel on Tuesday 3 June at 5 p.m. 

Exhibition concept: Pavel Štěpánek, Jiří Jůza
Texts: Pavel Štěpánek
Translation: Christopher Hopkinson, Šárka Holišová
Graphic design: Katarína Jamrišková
Promotion: Jana Malášek Šrubařová, Magdaléna Staňková
Educational programmes: Hedvika Dalecká, Jana Sedláková