CULTURE AND ARTS
FINE ARTS
- The Czech Republic ranks among the most attractive tourist
destinations in all of Europe thanks to numerous artictic monuments
which display a rich variety of artistic styles combined with
high preservation standards.
- After the fall of the Great Moravian Empire (905), which was
artistically influenced by Byzantium, Czech art developed within
the scope of West European artistic styles, though these styles
were often adapted in unique ways.
- Czech Gothic painting in particular developed its own distincive
style (anonymous Master of the Vyssi Brod
Altar, Master Theodoricus etc.).
- Also outstanding is the work of architect Petr Parler, especially
the Gothic St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle and the decoration
of the Old Town Bridge Tower of the famous Charles Bridge.
- The late Gothic Vladislav Hall at Prague Castle, a work by
Benedikt Reid, is one of the most marvellous secular halls
of late Gothic style in the world.
- During the Renaissance and the Manneristic Period numerous
foreigners, mainly Italians, worked in Bohemia. The Emperor Rudolf
II (who reigned between 1576 and 1611), an ardent collector and
patron of the arts, brought many outstanding works by European
artists to Bohemia which today form the basis of various contemporary
collections.
- The appearance of the Czech landscape was considerably enriched
by Baroque architecture (especially by the buildings of Christopher
and Kilian Ignaz Diezenhoffer and Giovanni Santini)
- In addition, Czech Baroque painting (Petr Brandl, Jan Kupecky
etc.) as well as sculpture (Ferdinand Maximilian Brokoff,
Matthias Bernhard Braun) reached a high standard.
- At the beginning of 20th century Czech Art Nouveau was among
the world's finest (mainly in architecture and applied arts);
the painter Alfons Mucha in particular made the style famous
abroad.
- Cubistic architecture is completely unique in Prague and functionalist
buildings are also of great artistic value. A number of remarkable
Czech artists of the 20th century lived and worked at least partly
abroad, for example the painters Frantisek Kupka, Emil
Filla, Toyen and Josef Sima.
- Even contemporary Czech art, in spite of the difficulties
in the communist era, retains a high standard (Jan Zrzavy,
Mikulas Medek, Jiri Tichy, Jiri
Kolar).
- The birth of photography as an original art form is connected
with names such as Frantisek Drtikol, Jaromir Funke,
Jaroslav Rossler and Josef Sudek.
MUSIC
The Czech music scene came alive in the 19th century as national
awareness began to increase, fostering composers the two great
composers Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana
whose work is played all over the world to this day. In the
early part of this century the Czech composer Leos Janacek
wrote strikingly original music that has achieved increasing
popularity around the world in recent years.
- The roots of Czech musical history are lodged in the distant
9th century. Over the course of the 11th century Gregorian chants
predominated. They were complimented by traditional Czech sacred
songs such as Saint Wenceslas.
- Between 1583 and 1612 during the reign of Rudolf II, the Habsburg
Imperial Orchestra - among the biggest ensembles in Europe - had
its seat at Prague Castle. The Czech composer J.D. Zelenka,
a contemporary of Bach's, was hailed as one of the leading composers
of his age.
- The arrival of the musical classicism period at the end of
the 18th century saw the establishment of several new municipal
opera houses in the country including the famed F.A. Nostitz theatre
(later renamed the Stavovske theatre). It was here that
some of Mozart's most famous operas had their opening nights.
- A distinctive trait of the period was the emigration of Czech
musicians fleeing low standards of living and religious oppression
in their homeland. Czech musicians remained popular abroad though
(J. V. Stamitz worked at Mannheim, the Benda family
in Berlin and Gotha, J. Myslivecek in Italy, A. Rejcha
in Paris).
- The establishment of a new period of Czech music is connected
with B. Smetana (1824-1884), A. Dvorak (1841-1904)
and Z. Fibich (1850-1900). In the period 1890-1930 the
leading personalities were L. Janacek, J. B. Foerster,
O. Ostrcil, V. Novak and J. Suk, and later J. B.
Martinu.
- In the second half of the 20th century M. Kabelar
and P. Eben achieved a worldwide reputation.
- The foundation of the Czech Philharmonic was of decisive importance
for musical life. They performed for the first time in 1896 (among
the conductors were V. Talich, R. Kubelik, K. Ancerl,
and V. Neumann).
- Czech concert art was made famous above all by several internationally
acclaimed violinists, pianists, chamber ensembles and singers.
Among them are the violinist F.Ondricek, singers
F. Burian and J. Novotna, and the pianist
R. Firkusny chamber. In addition to the Czech
Philharmonic, the Symphonic Orchestra of the City of Prague FOK
is also well known.
- The highlight of Czech concert life is the annual musical
festival Prague Spring, featuring performers from around
the world.
- Despite political repression, jazz and rock‚n roll music
started to develop at the end of the 1950s, mainly in clubs and
alternative theatres. These were hot-beds of creativity from which
many world-famous names arose, such as J. Stivin and
R. Dasek. Many of them, such as J. Mraz, J.
Hammer and A. Vitous established themselves as international
stars living abroad.
LITERATURE
After centuries of development, Czech literature began to attract
international attention over the course of this century. Recently,
the names of several Czech writers have joined the ranks of the
world's literary luminaries and their work has been translated
into dozens of languages.
Perhaps one of the most famous of Prague's literati was the German-Jewish
writer Franz Kafka. In a series of unique novels and short
stories Kafka mapped out the state of modern society. The dilemmas
his characters found themselves in came to symbolize the absurdities
of modern life, which people now describe as Kafkaesque.
Kafka's works are echoed in the internationally renowned novels
of Milan Kundera which delve into the problematics of personal
identity in today's world.
- Many great writers emerged out of the period between the two
world wars. Among them, perhaps the most famous was Karel Capek
a humanist who wrote a number of anti-military works. In one
of them he invented the word ‚Robot' which became an international
word (R.U.R.- Rossum's Universal Robots). He also founded the
crucial Czech literary organization PEN Club.
- Other Czech writers, such as V. Nezval, K. Biebl, K. Teige,
J. Seifert were on the cutting edge of the avant-garde of
poetism and surrealism. In 1984 Seifert became the first Czech
writer to be awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.
- Up to the end of World War II the Czech lands were also home
to several German and Jewish writers living in Prague: Rainer
Maria Rilke, Franz Werfel and Max Brod.
- After 1948, literature was materially and intellectually impoverished
by the imposition of a centralized state ideology. Not until the
1960s as the communist regime eased did a new literary generation
arise and efforts to renew contacts with Europe were revived.
- However, the short period of artistic freedom ended in August
1968 with the invasion of the armies of the Warsaw Pact. The majority
of the most important authors of the generation continued their
work abroad; or their samizdat works circulated during the following
two decades only in typed copies. Among these were the internationally
renowned authors:
- The emigre prose writers Milan Kundera, Arnost
Lustig, Egon Hostovsky and Josef Skvorecky,
and those who stayed home, Ludvik Vaculik, Ladislav
Fuks, Bohumil Hrabal and Ivan Klima.
THEATER
- The theatre has played a crucial role in the history of the
Czech nation. So much more fitting that today, Vaclav
Havel, the country's most famous dissident playwright is also
the president of the republic. Among his most famous absurdist
plays, which have been translated and performed all over the world,
are Temptation, Memorandum and The Garden Party.
- Havel, along with fellow playwrights like Josef Topol,
were tapping into a long theatrical tradition that began in the
12th century.
- In 1862 the first permanent Czech theater Prozatimni
divadlo (The Provisional Theater) was opened. The National Theater
has stood as a strong symbol of national independence since it
opened in 1881, thanks to public donations and collections. The
first performance at the theatre was Smetana's Libuse, an
opera based on the legendary founding of the city of Prague. Although
it burned down afterwards it re-opened in 1883.
- Between 1927 and 1938 the Osvobozene divadlo (The Liberated
Theater) served as a breeding ground for a new genre of satiric
political commentary developed by the authors and actors J.
Voskovec and J. Werich.
- After World War II regional theaters began to open. At the
end of the 1950s theater life was revived with the creation of
several small theaters: Divadlo Na Zabradli - Theater
on the Balustrade, Semafor Theater, Divadlo za Branou - Theater
Beyond the Gate (at present Divadlo za Branou II), and Cinoherni
klub.
- Czech stage design (F. Troster, F. Muzika, J. Capek,
J. Svoboda - the founder of Laterna Magica) enjoyed great
success abroad as did ballet (P. Smok), mime (L.
Fialka, B. Hybner, B. Polivka) and puppet theater (Spejbl
a Hurvinek Theatre, Vychodoceske loutkove
divadlo DRAK - East Bohemian Puppet Theater DRAK in Hradec Kralove).
FILM
Czech filmmaking leaped into the international spotlight over
the past couple of decades thanks to the work of directors Milos
Forman and Jiri Menzel, whose films are played in moviehouses
all over the world. Forman won Oscar awards for his films One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus and Menzel secured one
for Ostre sledovane vlaky/Closely Watched Trains.
- Film history in the Czech Republic goes back to 1898 when
the first ones were produced by J. Krizenecky.
The film era began to really take off in the country when permanent
movie theatres started operating in 1907 and with the arrival
of permanent film distributors in 1909.
- In the 1930s Czech writers and cinematographers began making
headway in the production of exceptional artistic films, documentaries
and the first sound newsreels.
- In 1945 Czechoslovak cinematography was nationalized. However
its growth was slowed down after February 1948 when communist
leaders started to interfere in film production and pushed the
production of propaganda films.At that time puppet films by J.
Trnka and cartoons and feature films by K. Zeman and J.
Svankmajer achieved world wide fame.
- In the 1960s productions by young artists formed the so-called
Czech New Wave. Both Forman and Menzel were a part of this wave
along with J. Jires, V. Chytilova, J. Nemec, E.
Schorm and F. Vlacil. After the Soviet-led invasion
in 1968 a series of films were locked away and prohibited. Among
them J. Kadar‚s and E. Klos‚s Obchod na
korze /The Shop on the Main Street/, which was awarded an Oscar
in 1966, and J. Menzel‚s Ostre sledovane vlaky /Closely
Watched Trains/, which received the same award the following year.
- The most important modern film festivals which take place
in the Czech Republic are the International Film Festival in Karlovy
Vary and the Children‚s Film Festival in Zlin.
- Every year the Czech Republic produces approximately 30 feature
films and 1,200 documentaries and cartoons.
- Recently, the state film industry went through economic transformation
and privatization. A network of private film companies and distributors
is now operating in the country.