New exhibition explores Jaroslav Čermák, the 19th-century Czech painter who made his name in Paris
A new exhibition at the Prague City Gallery's Municipal Library venue looks back at the life and work of Jaroslav Čermák, a Czech painter who enjoyed considerable success across Europe in the 19th century but gradually faded from public memory.
He was one of the most successful Czech painters of the 19th century, exhibiting in Paris and winning recognition across Europe. Yet Jaroslav Čermák is now far less familiar to the public than many of his contemporaries.
A major retrospective at the Prague City Gallery is bringing his work back into the spotlight, exploring both his international career and his fascination with the Balkans.
Helena Musilová, curator of the exhibition and Deputy Director for Professional Activities at the Prague City Gallery, explains just how exceptional his position was.
Jaroslav Čermák was indeed one of the most famous Czech painters of the 19th century. He was the first artist from the Czech lands to make a name for himself at the Paris Salons, then the ultimate benchmark of the Western art world.
Born in Prague in 1830, Čermák studied art abroad before settling in Paris, where he established himself as a history painter. He regularly exhibited at the prestigious Paris Salons and won awards in France and Belgium.
From the late 1850s, however, he increasingly travelled to the Balkans, particularly Montenegro, where he found inspiration in local traditions and the struggle against Ottoman rule.
One of the highlights of the exhibition is War Booty, his largest completed painting, dating from 1862, says Musilová.
It depicts two abducted girls, probably from Montenegro, guarded by armed men to prevent them from escaping. You can see both their sadness and their unbroken spirit. This was a time when nations in the Balkans were beginning to rise up against Ottoman rule.
He was one of the first artists to take major themes traditionally drawn from classical or mythological subjects and bring them into the present day.
The exhibition, the first major retrospective of Čermák's work in almost a century, presents his paintings alongside works by his contemporaries, placing him in a wider European context.
Among other things, we show the work of his teacher, Louis Gallait, and explore Čermák's relationship with Gallait's wife, with whom he had a love affair lasting more than 20 years.
We also present his graphic works, through which his paintings became known across Europe. Not everyone could afford to buy an original painting directly from him.
The Prague City Gallery has organised the exhibition in cooperation with the National Gallery Prague, which has lent 53 works. But, as Musilová stresses, the collaboration goes far beyond the loans themselves.
We put together a comprehensive team of colleagues from the National Gallery, the Prague City Gallery and independent experts. We began asking ourselves what we could explore through Čermák's work, because we did not want to present him as a closed chapter in art history.
In 1873, Čermák turned down an offer to become director of the Prague Academy of Fine Arts and chose to stay abroad. He died in Paris five years later, aged just 47.
