<Muzeum kubismu> showcases Sudek's photographs of modern architecture

Prague - An exhibition presenting previously unpublished photographs of modern architecture by photographer Josef Sudek is starting at the Museum of Cubism in the House at the Black Madonna on Celetná Street. It has been organized by the Arts and Crafts Museum, which manages a large part of Sudek's legacy and is also the author of a new cubist exhibition. The exhibition also serves as the museum's contribution to the double anniversary of Josef Sudek (1896 to 1976), which falls this year.

The exhibition is titled "I Would Be Happy to Photograph Modern Modern Architecture" and showcases on Sudek's photographs buildings by Josef Gočár, Jaroslav Fragner, Pavel Janák, Jan Koula, and Richard Podzemný. It will take place in a building that is itself a significant cubist monument until September 18.

Photographer Josef Sudek was a figure of global significance. His black-and-white photographs serve as greetings from a different, long-lost world. Sudek's simple, austere compositions of everyday objects surrounding him are well-known. From all his images, a fascination with light in all its fleeting forms radiates. The nooks and architectural monuments of Prague were Sudek's lifelong inspiration.

His well-known photographic series include "From the Invalidovna," "Saint Vitus," "The Window of My Studio," "A Walk in the Magical Garden," "The Primeval Forest of Mionší," "Contrasts," and "Labyrinths" as well as "Panoramic Prague," which belong to his free work. Particularly in the 30s and 40s, he also worked as a commissioned photographer, capturing portraits and collaborating with a number of companies.

For the publishing house Družstevní práce and the store Krásná jizba, he created images of modern glass and porcelain tableware, alpaca cutlery, and modern textiles designed by contemporary leading designers. At the same time, he also collaborated with leading architects.

This resulted in a comprehensive collection of images of modern architecture (for example, Gočár's modern buildings in Hradec Králové and the Church of St. Wenceslas in Vršovice, the Juliš café in Prague's Wenceslas Square, the ESSO power plant in Kolín, or the Glass House in Dejvice) that provides insight into the everyday practice of Sudek's studio.

The exhibited photographs come from the collections of the Arts and Crafts Museum in Prague and will be supplemented by several contemporary copies from Sudek's negatives stored at the Institute of Art History of the Academy of Sciences.