Art & Statues
Czech Art Deco 1918-1938
Czech Art Deco 1918-1938
Published in 1998 by the Municipal House and the Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague, this is the exhibition catalog for Czech Art Deco 1918-1938, shown at the Exhibition Halls of the Municipal House from May 6 to October 4, 1998. Edited by Helena Koenigsmarková and Jana Horneková with contributions from Eva Uchalová, Petr Štembera, and Alena Adlerová, the softcover volume runs to 285 pages of English text with color photography on nearly every page. It was issued as a limited edition of one thousand copies. The cover features a striking black and gold bronze figure, its stylized headdress and wing forms typical of the sculptural work covered inside. The catalog surveys the full range of Czech Art Deco production between the two world wars, from architecture and furniture to glass, ceramics, and fashion.
The exhibition brought together decorative arts and design produced in Czechoslovakia during the interwar period, a moment when Prague was home to a distinctive strand of Art Deco shaped by Czech Cubism and the country's strong applied arts tradition. The catalog documents furniture, glass, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, and fashion alongside architecture and graphic design, giving a broad view of how the style developed in a national context separate from its better-known French and American counterparts.
The Municipal House itself, an Art Nouveau landmark in central Prague, has long served as a venue for major decorative arts exhibitions, and the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague holds one of the most significant collections of Czech design from this period. The scholars behind this catalog, led by Helena Koenigsmarková, drew on that collection along with loans from other institutions to assemble a comprehensive record of the exhibition.
This catalog is a valuable reference for collectors and researchers interested in Czech design of the interwar years, an area still less documented in English than French or American Art Deco. Its limited print run and detailed color plates make it a desirable addition to any library focused on Central European decorative arts.
