Frantisek Kupka

                                                                 

 I was always suspicious of Galerie Moderna on the embankment behind the National theatre and Goethe Institute .Since it is a commercial gallery I always saw mostly works on paper by established modern Czech artists such as Lhoták or Jiří Kolář.As they never seemed to change very much I just assumed that that was their business, selling safe mid to high price art by sought after artists to locals eager to have some socially approved works in their possession.

Image courtesy of:http://www.galeriemoderna.cz/cz/

                While recently visiting after a long time I was still confronted with an album of lithographs and prints by familiar artists but at the same time I was treated to a nice exhibition of Frantisek Kupka’s work.Till the last week of February the gallery is showing works  on paper by Kupka  spanning more than 50 years of his career from the turn of the century to the late 1950’s.The only decade missing are the  40’s  but that does not detract from a good overview of the artists evolution and output.I had previously only seen Frantisek Kupka’s paintings in big museums such as the national gallery or Museum Kampa which tend to predominantly display his big works on canvas which gained him fame.

Orange Circle (Cercle orangé),1945–46
Image courtesy of:http://www.guggenheim.org

The works in Galerie Moderna are very small in comparison and show a very different side of his oeuvre. Although he has always been presented as an isolated abstract artist who worked mostly with bright colors and curves; this is an opportunity to see his less known works. An interesting point that came to mind while look around was the fact that he was influenced by the aesthetic movements sand changes which were taking place around him. In part this might have been due to his work as a commercial artists and illustrator who needed a steady source of income aside from his ‘’real” art.

Black and  white 1926

His works before the WWI are magazine illustrations and works which give the impression of fin de siècle Paris the way we know it from popular images of the Moulin Rouge. By 1919 he was still commercially producing images with a Victorian nostalgia for historical exoticism of fictional maidens in ancient Egypt being cooled by ostrich feathers. It is only in the 1920’s that we begin to see a change in his works as his images become more geometric and angular .The decades following the Great War see his work become abstract with sharp lines and less color. Black and white alone enters his palette and stay there till the end of his life. By the late 50’s his works as seen in the show were all planes and verticals, very well balanced simple works. The 1930’s showed further signs of bold semicircular geometry as though he was reworking his most famous painting from before WWI but in a simplified more understandable way.

Black and  white1926

This little exhibition is well work seeing as one gets a better perspective on some of his later works which make him a much more contemporary artist than I have always assumed. His artistic journey was on from chaos to serenity.

František Kupka, Contrasts Series (IV?) (Série contrastes [IV?]), 1935–46
Image courtesy of:http://www.guggenheim.org/

Piranesi

Carceri

Image courtesy of: http://www.ngprague.cz

 Much to my surprise at the end of last year I began to see posters for a Piranesi exhibition in Prague. I immediately though who and why had someone decided to introduce this seminal Italian etcher to a wider Czech public. I had always associated his works with regions west of the Czech Republic.

One of the handsome tile stoves

 I have finally had a chance to see the exhibition and was not disappointed at all. Shown in the appropriately fitting surrounding of the Clam Gallas palace the curators have done their best to bring Piranesi‘s baroque impressions to life in a realistic setting. The original ceiling high tile stoves in the exhibition rooms which have elements of classical architecture complement the engravings of the classical buildings being shown. The Clam Gallas palace itself was inspired by engravings such as these alluding to the grandeur of aristocratic residences. Much of the exhibition is from Czech collections.

McMansion ?

Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s work is presented in its full spectrum covering almost all the major themes he depicted. Each   theme is displayed in a different room from his maps of imaginary cities to his romantic ruins and to the detailed engravings of antiquities.

A bit of  Wedgewood inspired heating

                His “views or Vedute“ are some of his famous works on show. They represent mythical cities and lands where fantasy and reality mix in an almost comical manner. His cities are places that were once glorious but whose  monumental building  are falling apart .Many of the cityscapes in the exhibit depict what was or could have been Rome of the 18th century ,the way the  grand tourists saw it. Needless to say this connection to the grand tourists has been one of the keys to his long lasting popularity.

A city that once was.

 For Piranesi architecture in all forms is a lot more important than people as if reminding viewer that “’people die but buildings are immortal “.Piranesi’s buildings are in fact vast structures most often in the classical example of ancient Rome. His fortresses show strength; his palaces give the impression of power, while the bridges he engraved leave one feeling there is a link to the past. And if his allusions to ancient Rome are not enough he added symbols from old Egypt to reinforce the message. Last but not least all his buildings tower over his human subjects reducing them to tiny details within the whole composition.

The Colosseum as experienced by the  grand tourist.

 People in his engraving are almost always men, often ragged and wretched and shown in a state of utter misery. The vagrants, beggars and vagabonds all seem to be in a state of commotion or physical despair, pointing to towards an illusionary source of help. They are lost characters trying to escape doom .The few who are not falling into some sort of hell all look like the aristocrats who might have bought Piranesi’s engravings. Since at the time there were few female grand tourists, women appear only as hints of Greek goddesses.

Something industrial.

 A whole room is dedicated to his depictions of concocted prisons which he was famous for. These truly “gothic “images of water filled dungeons bring to mind a sort of illustration for Franz Kafka’s work who grew up right behind the corner.

Piramide di Caio Cestio.

Image courtesy of: http://www.piranesiselection.com

The exhibit is a much needed temporary addition to the local cultural scene and is especially rewarding in the interiors of the Clam Gallas palace  .It is easy to see how he influenced successive generations of artists  from the Romantics  to the Victorians to the more recent surrealists.

The grand staircase of the Clam Gallas Palace

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Krymská

Years ago almost all the fun in Prague took place in the old town. The “happening ” cafes  and bars were in the old town. Marquise de Sade ,Gulu Gulu ,Blatouch ,La Casa Blue or Lit Caf (literární kavárna) to name just a few were all located around the Old Town square. Of course there were many other hangouts elsewhere in the city but the Old Town was the epicenter of social life .It was at a time when the city still awash with  euphoria ,money and lots of young Americans being adventurous.

Image courtesy of: http://vrsovicedailyphoto.blogspot.fr/2011/05/cafe-sladkovsky-celebrations.html

 By the mid 2000’s though the café scene in Old Town had begun to die a slow death. The rents had soared, the Old Town was a tourist trap and perhaps young people wanted a different a kind of café, not dark, moody spaces furnished with attic finds from your grandmother. Prague seemed lost and wandering. One of the first places to open in a completely unusual part of the city was Shakespeare and sons. The café in the vein of its original Paris predecessor frequented by the  likes of Hemmingway,the Prague descendant opened in Krymská on the border between  Vinohrady and Vršovice. When it started about a decade ago it also catered to expats and had good coffee. It has  since gone through a number of changes and is today known as café v Lese, the first outpost of hip Berlin style in Prague. With time more cafes and other bars followed. Today Krymská and the surrounding streets are home to numerous bars, cafes and bistros which have revived the Prague café scene.

Old Prague style coffee
Image courtesy of: www.coffeehouseprague.eu

A while back I took a friend of mine for an evening out in this funky part of the city and  since then I have discovered other bars worth visiting in the vicinity.

CoffeeHouse is a good place to start your day or evening with excellent fresh coffee and enough quiet to plan your next move. It has something of the old style 90’s Prague cafes but without all the smoke and bad wine. An advantage is also the outside summer seating on the tranquil patio.

Image courtesy of: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/caf%C3%A9-v-lese-prague?select=gSrkllrIHt8qOFlyYSzEsQ#gSrkllrIHt8qOFlyYSzEsQ

 You might want to go on to Zenit Café which is slightly beaten up but its two small rooms are a great place to have a drink and talk, the décor is “eclectic” in a new hip way and although I haven’t had coffee there the wine is good .If  you are  into something more fancy like cocktails you will head for Café V Lese, where the staff can mix a few basic cocktails as they have quite a selection of spirits. Otherwise it is the place to go for funky parties in the dugout cellar. While you might have the impression that you are going down to get some apples or potatoes  you are actually entering a club. Cafe v Lese has become so popular that patrons are asked not to be too loud when gonging outside for a smoke .

Zenit at night

Image courtesy of: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZENIT/791244840894808?sk=photos_stream

Before clubbing though you might want to get something to eat in Café Sladkovský, where apart from drinks you can get some really good burgers and some equally tasty vegetarian stuff. Another place I recently discovered is Fusion Bistro a few streets up in Máchova .Fusion Bistro offers a number of Indonesian dishes by its Indonesian co owner and other rather delectable food. It has the same farm to table vibe of the other Prague hipster places where simplicity is key.

Fusion Bistro
Image courtesy of: http://www.javanka.cz

For some late night drinking Boudoir also known as U sta Ran is the place to go. This bar also has some great wine and outstanding coffee .The crowd tends to be mixed, gay and straight or a kind of gender bender which is evident in the unmarked bathrooms. When I took my boss and his boyfriend there , I got mixed reactions. His boyfriend referred to it as an “alternative bar”(he’s a hairdresser). Whatever you might think it also has a very nice patio in summer.

Budoir by M.d.Sade
Image by :By Chris Jalufka

There are of course other bars and establishments such as the Solution gallery housed in what used to be an antiques store that closed exactly a year ago or Strojovna where you can learn to sew  pleases your fancy. I might come back to some of the other venues in and around this street in the future. What all these cafes and businesses have in common though is an effort to establish a sense of community which is soooooo rare in Prague.