Chýnovský House of František Bílek attracts only hundreds of visitors each year

Chýnov - Interest in the permanent exhibition at the František Bílek House in Chýnov is low. The most visitors this year came in August, about 300, but in October there are days when only three or four visitors arrive. The exhibition, which commemorates the local native, artist Bílek, will be complemented next year by his three-meter statue of Jan Hus and other works related to the Hussite movement. On the auction market, significant Bílek works sell for hundreds of thousands of crowns, ČTK found out. November 6 will mark 150 years since Bílek's birth.

In July, 250 people visited the house, with fifty more in August. "Attendance is relatively low. František Bílek had enormous misfortune, as during socialism, almost no one talked about him because he mainly created religious motifs, and that was not suitable. He is somewhat forgotten, which is a shame. Since he has a statue in St. Vitus Cathedral in Prague, he should be more recognized." said Ilona Martinovská, the exhibition guide, to ČTK. The house is open from May to October, with the highest footfall in July and August. According to the guide, these are tourists from all over the country as well as art enthusiasts who have already visited Bílek's villa in Prague.

Last year and the year before, attendance dropped due to the coronavirus epidemic. This year, people are buying more expensive publications and souvenirs less than before. Before the coronavirus, more schools also visited for tours. The admission fee has not changed for several years: adults pay 50 crowns, students 30, and seniors 20 crowns. According to Martinovská, the exhibition does not attract local residents much.

For the past five years, the house has mainly offered sculptures from Bílek's early period, as well as the so-called Březina room, which reminded visitors that the poet Otokar Březina stayed there during his visits. Now the exhibition also features two rooms where people can see a footstool or beds from the bedrooms for Bílek's daughter and son. Next year, a three-meter statue of Jan Hus will become a centerpiece on the ground floor, a study for the monument that stands in the square in Tábor. Additional works related to the Hussite movement will also be added.

Interest in Bílek's works on the auction market is steady. "He is certainly a respected author, but he is not a trendy author. His work does not have such a wide audience. There are not many of his pieces on the market. Significant works can range in the hundreds of thousands of crowns, and since they aren't plentiful, the price rises. For graphics, it will be 2,500 crowns, at most 5,000 crowns," said Jaromír Procházka from the Trans Ars company to ČTK.

The house where the exhibition is located today was built by Bílek in Chýnov at the age of 26 on his parents' garden. The Chýnov cottage, as the place is also known, has not changed much since 1898. Bílek wanted to have a studio there, but he envisioned it would be a residential house. A gazebo has been preserved in the garden, which the sculptor originally called a prayer house. It served as an outdoor seating area, and later the artist kept bees underneath it in the slope, which he received from a priest. Around the windows of the house, excerpts from the Gospel have been preserved. It was Bílek's first own residence. His birthplace stands a little higher up.

The Chýnov František Bílek House has been managed by the Gallery of the Capital City of Prague since 1990. This also includes Bílek's villa in Prague, which holds the main collection of the artist's works.