Celda Klouček (born Celestýn Klouček; 6 December 1855, Senomaty – 14 October 1935,

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a Czech sculptor, designer, teacher, and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

Life and work

He began his studies at the

Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague The Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague (AAAD, , abbreviated VŠUP, also known as UMPRUM) is a public university located in Prague, Czech Republic. The university offers the study disciplines of painting, illustration and graphics, ...

, then transferred to the School of Applied Arts in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. There, he worked in the studios of from 1878 to 1881. In addition to his studio work, he taught decorative sculpting at the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

. From 1888 to 1916, he was a professor at his alma mater in Prague; overseeing a studio for decorative drawing and modeling. He was also involved in the

ceramics A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant, and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porce ...

studio, and worked together with Professor Emanuel Novák (1866–1918) in the Academy's artistic metal program. Since he was a young boy, he had collected minerals and

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

s. Through his own studies, and collaborations with the paleontologists at the

National Museum A national museum can be a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In the United States, most nati ...

, he developed into a knowledgeable researcher; publishing his own discoveries in the professional journals. His works were mostly decorative and ornamental pieces, done in

bas-relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

. They are largely within the style of

Historicism Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying the process or history by which they came about. The term is widely used in philosophy, ant ...

, primarily

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

. He also designed

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

pieces for interiors and exteriors, fireplace masks and lamps, as well as other

arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

items. Around 1900, he began designing in the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style and exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. After

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he went into semi-retirement, taking only small, private, commissions.

Selected projects

His works, and works by his students, based on his designs, have been preserved throughout Prague,

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

, and Vienna. * Building of the former

Zemská Banka Zemská Banka () was a significant state-sponsored financial institution in Prague during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was founded in 1890 as the (, , ). Following the independence of Czechoslovakia, from 1920 it was known simply ...

, by Osvald Polívka * Building of the former Prague Municipal Credit Union, by Antonín Wiehl * Head office of the Prague Credit Bank * , today the seat of the

Apostolic Nunciature An apostolic nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See that is equivalent to an embassy. However, it neither issues visas nor has consul (representative), consulates. The head of the apostolic nunciature is called a ''nuncio ...

. * Decorations at the in Plzeň * Decorations in the Imperial Suites at the

Hofburg The Hofburg () is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. Located in the Innere Stadt, center of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century by Ottokar II of Bohemia and expanded several times afterwards. It also ser ...

Sources

* ''Celda Klouček, sochař, návrhář, paleontolog'': Exhibition catalog for his 155th anniversary, West Bohemian Museum, Plzeň, 2010 * Jaroslav Perner, ''Celda Klouček paleontolog'', , Prague, 1937
Online

External links

Works by and about Klouček
@ the

National Library of the Czech Republic The National Library of the Czech Republic () is the central library of the Czech Republic. It is directed by the Ministry of Culture (Czech Republic), Ministry of Culture. The library's main building is located in the historical Clementinum buil ...

Mgr. Bronislava Bubeníčková: ''Přínos Celdy Kloučka české keramické tvorbě na přelomu 19. a 20''
(The Contribution of Celda Klouček to Czech Ceramic Art at the Turn of the 19th and 20th Centuries), Bachelor's thesis (2010) @ MUNI, Brno
Entry for Klouček
@ AbART {{DEFAULTSORT:Kloucek, Celda 1855 births 1935 deaths Czech sculptors Czech architectural sculptors Czech paleontologists People from Rakovník District Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague alumni Sculptors from Austria-Hungary