Archive: Culture | Arts Arts
Hunt Kastner Artworks – helping young Czech artists develop international careers
Hunt Kastner Artworks in Prague 7 is a private gallery owned and run by
Camille Hunt, who is Canadian, and Katherine Kastner, who is from the US
though her mother is Czech. The two represent 10 Czech artists, among them
Eva Koťátková, Josef Bolf and Daniel Pitín. This week I stopped by to
talk to the owners about their work, both curating shows and helping their
artists find buyers overseas. I first asked Hunt what had led them to open
the gallery in the first place. More
Prague company keeping classic Czech design of early 20th century alive
The company Modernista, which has a shop in the centre of Prague, deals in
both original Czech furniture from the first half of the 20th century and
replicas it has made under license. Perhaps most notably, Modernista sells
and recreates Cubist pieces – including ceramics and clocks – which are
unique to this part of the world. Owner Janek Jaros described the business
to me when we spoke a few days ago. More
2012 set to be good year for Czech art market
Over the last couple of years, art sales in the Czech Republic have seen a
decline. But this year is different, and it’s not just the record sale of
a František Kupka painting that did the trick. The market now attracts
collectors who are ready to look beyond the well-established segment of
modern art that has topped sales so far. More
Mucha family voices concerns as Slav Epic goes on display in Prague
After many months of delays, and several years of arguing, the Slav Epic
will go on display in Prague’s Veletržní palác on Thursday. Alfons
Mucha’s Art Nouveau masterpiece has been at the centre of a heated
dispute between the town of Moravský Krumlov, where the 20 enormous
canvasses were kept until recently, and the City of Prague, which has made
no secret of wanting to put the work on permanent display. As for the
painter’s own wishes, the Slav Epic was willed to the Czech capital upon
his death in 1939, but on the condition that a special building was made
for it. That has never happened, much to the ire of the Mucha family. We
spoke with the painter’s grandson John Mucha in London, and asked how he
felt about the opening. More
Kupka’s Shape of Blue sets new Czech art auction record
On Wednesday night, The Shape of Blue, a painting by abstract artist
František Kupka, sold for 55.75 million crowns at auction – setting a
new Czech art auction record. The impressive final sum came as a surprise
even to the director of Adolf Loos Aprtment & Gallery, which organized
the auction. What significance does this latest record have for the
domestic art market, and what makes this work of Kupka’s special? We
spoke to Jan Skřivánek, the editor-in-chief of art + antiques. More
Award-winning Czech typographer takes on Gujarati
Type design is an ancient art enjoying a renaissance in the computer age.
The specificities of writing systems that were once passed down from master
to apprentice can now be worked with by designers anywhere in the world who
have the patience and the talent to take on a foreign script. One such
designer is David Březina, one of the founders of the Brno type foundry
Rosetta. In 2008 his Skolar type family received international recognition
and he is now working on a font for the Gujarati writing system, used by
over 60 million people in the Indian subcontinent. When he came to our
studio recently I asked him how he became interested in type design in the
first place. More
Exhibitions & street art a part of Czech cultural season in London
Czech Open 2012 is a cultural season in London that began last month and
will last through to August, also during with the summer Olympic Games.
Organised by the Czech Centre in London, the season offers a variety of
programmes in the borough of Islington, including an exhibition called Coal
and Steel and Disorient Express which is set to open, and a street art
project being worked on now by two Czech and British artists. More
The story of a successful Fine Arts studio
It was almost two years ago that then-fresh graduate Nina Mainerová set
out with a colleague to open a professional architectural studio. But soon
after their launch, the bills piled up and they were forced to modify their
plans. First, they began offering preparatory classes for students applying
to university; then they extended their workshops to include drawing and
painting. More
Concert, screening at Prague’s Lucerna to mark day against racism
March 21st is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial
Discrimination and to mark the occasion organisers from Opona, a non-profit
NGO, have helped put together an exhibition, screening and concert to take
place on Wednesday afternoon and evening at Prague’s Lucerna. Several
notable Czech artists, including Ester Kočičková Xindl X, and the Tap
Tap are taking part. More
Leoš Válka – founder of Prague’s DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
Leoš Válka is one of the founders of the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art
in Prague’s Holešovice district, which in just a few years has become
one of the most important institutions of its kind in Central and Eastern
Europe. Válka has a perhaps surprising background for such a significant
figure in the Czech art world: for several years he ran a firm in Australia
doing maintenance work on high-rise buildings. More
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