Group 42 ( cs, Skupina 42) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

artistic group officially established in 1942 (although its roots date to 1938–1939, forming in 1940). The group's activity ceased in 1948, but its influence on

Czech literature Czech literature can refer to literature written in Czech, in the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia, earlier the Lands of the Bohemian Crown), or by Czech people. Most literature in the Czech Republic is now written in Czech, but histor ...

and Czech art was still evident in further years. This group was mainly influenced by

civilism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

futurism Futurism ( it, Futurismo, link=no) was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such ...

constructivism Constructivism may refer to: Art and architecture * Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes * Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...

, and a bit by

surrealism Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

. Their work revealed a characteristic fascination with technology, evident in their frequent focus on cities, factories, industry, and machines. The human characters are generally common townspeople. The article ''The World We Live In'' (

''Svět, v němž žijeme'') by Jindřich Chalupecký provided Group 42's primary theoretical foundation.

Members

Poets

Ivan Blatný Ivan Blatný (; 21 December 1919 in Brno, Czechoslovakia – 5 August 1990 in Colchester, United Kingdom) was a Czech poet and a member of '' Skupina 42 (Group 42). Life Blatný, the son of the writer Lev Blatný, was a member of the ''Skupina 42' ...

*Jan Hanč *

Jiřina Hauková Jiřina Hauková (January 27, 1919, Přerov – December 15, 2005) was a Czech poet and translator. She was a member of the Group 42 (Skupina 42), together with her husband Jindřich Chalupecký. Biography Having graduated from a grammar schoo ...

Josef Kainar Josef Kainar (29 June 1917 in Přerov, Austria-Hungary – 16 November 1971 in Dobříš, Czechoslovakia) was a Czech poet, lyrics writer, dramatic author and translator, but also a musician, illustrator, artist and journalist. He was a membe ...

* Jiří Kolář (also a visual artist)

Painters

*František Gross *František Hudeček * Jan Kotík *

Kamil Lhoták Kamil Lhoták (25 July 1912 Prague – 22 October 1990, Prague) was a Czech painter, graphic artist, and illustrator. He was one of the members of Group 42. Biography Kamil Lhoták was born on 25 July 1912 in Prague-Holešovice. His mother, A ...

Bohumír Matal Bohumír Matal (13 February 1922 Brno – 7 July 1988 Prudká at Doubravník) was a Czech painter, one of the youngest members of Group 42. He was a significant celebrity in post-war painting in the 20th century in Brno. Life Bohumír Matal st ...

*Jan Smetana *Karel Souček

Carver

Ladislav Zívr Ladislav Zívr (23 May 1909 – 4 September 1980) was a Czech sculptor. Zívr was born in Nová Paka and died in Ždírec (a hamlet in Levínská Olešnice), Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic). Because of family tradition he attended pottery ...

Photographer

Miroslav Hák Miroslav Hák (9 May 1911, in Nová Paka, Bohemia – 29 June 1978, in Prague) was a Czechoslovak photographer. He was one of the members of Group 42. Miroslav Hak was one of the most outstanding figures in the history of Czech modern photography ...

Theoreticians

*Jindřich Chalupecký *

Jiří Kotalík Jiří Kotalík (22 July 1920 – 26 January 1996) was a Czech art historian and director of the National Gallery in Prague between 1967 and 1990. He was one of the members of Group 42 Group 42 ( cs, Skupina 42) was a Czech artistic group offic ...

References

*Eva Petrová (ed.) and collective: ''Skupina 42'', Akropolis, Praha 1998, *Zdeněk Pešat, Eva Petrová (ed.): ''Skupina 42'', Atlantis, Brno 2000, *Izabela Mroczek: ''Dom, ulica, miasto w poezji czeskiej Grupy 42'', Śląsk, Katowice-Warszawa, 2005 (Polish) *

Leszek Engelking Leszek Engelking (2 February 1955 – 22 October 2022) was a Polish poet, short story writer, novelist, translator, literary critic, essayist, Polish philologist, and literary academic, scholar, and lecturer. Engelking translated a vast amount ...

: ''Codzienność i mit. Poetyka, programy i historia Grupy 42 w kontekstach dwudziestowiecznej awangardy i postawangardy'', Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź 2005, (Polish)

External links

Avant-gardists – A pair of art rebels step into the mainstream
Naomi Lindt, 8.3.2006,

The Prague Post ''The Prague Post'' was an English language newspaper covering the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe which published its first weekly issue on October 1, 1991. It published a printed edition weekly until July 2013, when it dropped the ...

Legendární Skupina 42
(Josef Fronc), Zpravodaj 2/2005

an interview with

at th
jedinak.cz

Czech literature Literary societies {{lit-org-stub