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Anna Habánová

Eugen von Kahlers Prager Ausstellung im Licht zeitgenössischer Quellen

In March 1931, after many years of preparation, a comprehensive overview of Eugen von Kahler’s work was held in the premises of the Krasoumná jednota (Fine Arts Association) in Prague. The exhibition comprised eighty-one oil paintings and drawings from the family estate and private and public institutions located in Bohemia, Germany, Austria and France. The show was organised by Prager Secession and was accompanied by two catalogues containing identical images but different texts. The Czech text was written by Antonín Matějček, the German by Otto Kletzl. This is the only known case of such an exhibition and accompanying catalogue from the milieu of German-speaking artists from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia. The Ultraquist Krasoumná jednota / Kunstverein für Böhmen usually published the same texts in Czech and German for their exhibitions, which, leaving aside a few exceptions, did not differ in respect of content. In the case of Eugen von Kahler, however, the Czech readership was treated to a text written by a Czech art historian, and the German readership to a text written by a German. This essay examines the circumstances surrounding the organisation of this exhibition and seeks to understand the complicated relations pertaining between the Czech and German-Czech art scene in the early 1930s. It discusses the inclusion of Kahler’s work in exhibitions of German-speaking artists from Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia in the first half of the 20th century (Dresden and Brno) and purchases for the collection of the Prague Modern Gallery. Part of the text is devoted to the two catalogues mentioned above and their authors’ links to the German-Czech art scene. Lesser known works by Eugen von Kahler were chosen for reproduction, and exceptional in this respect is a drawing originally in the possession of Margarete Collin-Weisgerber.



Author's email:

anna.habanova@tul.cz


DOI: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.54759/ART-2023-0104



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