Jiří Šetlík (2 April 1929 – 28 January 2023) was a Czech art historian, art critic and academic.

Life and career

Born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, Šetlík was the son of the founder of the pharmaceutical company Ivan Šetlík, a

political dissident A dissident is a person who actively challenges an established political or religious system, doctrine, belief, policy, or institution. In a religious context, the word has been used since the 18th century, and in the political sense since the 20t ...

who was condemned to two and a half years in prison for espionage in a

show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...

. The mother was an employee in the administration of the

Czech Philharmonic The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title ...

. Šetlík studied Art History and Aesthetics at

Charles University ) , image_name = Carolinum_Logo.svg , image_size = 200px , established = , type = Public, Ancient , budget = 8.9 billion CZK , rector = Milena Králíčková , faculty = 4,057 , administrative_staff = 4,026 , students = 51,438 , undergr ...

, graduating in 1953. After serving three years of military service in the army auxiliary battalions (PTP) as an "enlightenment officer", he got a doctorate in History and Theory of Art at the

Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences The Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences (Czech: ''Československá akademie věd'', Slovak: ''Česko-slovenská akadémia vied'') was established in 1953 to be the scientific center for Czechoslovakia. It was succeeded by the Czech Academy of Science ...

. He then worked at the National Gallery Prague until 1964, when he became editor-in-chief of the art magazine ''Výtvarná práca'', which he characterized as a liberal and pluralistic magazine also covering the western art scene. In 1968 he was nominated director of the Museum of Decorative Arts, a role he lost in 1971, when because of the

normalization Normalization or normalisation refers to a process that makes something more normal or regular. Most commonly it refers to: * Normalization (sociology) or social normalization, the process through which ideas and behaviors that may fall outside of ...

he was declassed as a low-rank museum employee, being also forbidden to publish anything. Following the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution ( cs, Sametová revoluce) or Gentle Revolution ( sk, Nežná revolúcia) was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations agains ...

, Šetlík held several important positions, notably as a lecturer and vice-rector of the

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

(1993–1996) and head of the Department of Art History at the Faculty of Architecture of the

Technical University of Liberec The Technical University of Liberec is a university in the city of Liberec, Czech Republic. The university has undergone great transformation in its over sixty-year history. When it was founded, it was called the Institute of Mechanical Engineering ...

(1996–2000), and reprised an intense writing activity. He was also a member of the Czech

PEN Club PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...

, and the chairman of the Jindřich Chalupecký Society between 1994 and 2005. Married to actress Zuzana Talpová until her death in 2005, Šetlík died on 28 January 2023, at the age of 93. He was the cousin of artist Adriena Šimotová.

References

External links

Memory of nations: Jiří Šetlík

Jiří Šetlík
at Biographical Dictionary of the Czech Lands {{DEFAULTSORT:Setlik, Jiri 1928 births 2023 deaths People from Prague Czech art historians Czech art critics Charles University alumni Academic staff of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague Academic staff of the Technical University of Liberec