František Muzika
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František Muzika (26 June 1900 – 1 November 1974) was a Czech artist. He was a prominent representative of
avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...
in
Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...
in the first half of the 20th century. Muzika was a painter, graphic designer, stage designer, illustrator, editor and professor 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, ...
.


Biography

Muzika was born in
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 ...
. He was a member of
Devětsil The Devětsil () was an association of Czech people, Czech avant-garde artists, founded in 1920 in Prague. From 1923 on there was also an active group in Brno. The movement discontinued its activities in 1930 (1927 in Brno). History Founded as Um ...
since 1921 and Mánes since 1923. After finishing his study at the Academy of Arts, Prague in 1924, he received a one-year scholarship from the French government for studying at
École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...
. In Paris he also received private lessons from
František Kupka František Kupka (23 September 1871 – 24 June 1957), also known as ''Frank Kupka'' or ''François Kupka,'' was a Czech painter and graphic artist A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, eit ...
at his atelier. In Paris he met
Max Jacob Max Jacob (; 12 July 1876 – 5 March 1944) was a French poet, painter, writer, and critic. Life and career After spending his childhood in Quimper, Brittany, he enrolled in the Paris Colonial School, which he left in 1897 for an artistic c ...
, who took him to meet Léonce Rosenberg. On Sundays he had regular meetings with Joseph Bernard, where he also met Maillol and Bissière, with whom he exhibited at Salon d'Automne. In 1925, after he returned from Paris, his experiences with the work of
Georges Braque Georges Braque ( ; ; 13 May 1882 – 31 August 1963) was a major 20th-century List of French artists, French painter, Collage, collagist, Drawing, draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor. His most notable contributions were in his alliance with ...
and
Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
led Muzika to change his style of painting. In his final years, he suffered from cardiac disease. He died 1 November 1974 in his atelier, with his final, unfinished work, "Staircase" ("''Schodiště''") on the easel.


Paintings


First period (1918–1924)

At first Muzika was influenced by Bohumil Kubišta. His first paintings portrayed still lifes and architecture. He then shifted to a primitivist neoclassicism. He focused on pastoral scenes and everyday life.


Second period (1925–1936)

After Paris he radically revised his artistic poetics. Objects lost their material character. His painting style relaxed. He created a new pictorial reality that took the form of Lyrical Cubism. After 1930, Muzika involved surrealist elements in his process. The poetics of Muzika's pictures were influenced by the work of Giorgio de Chirico and Muzika's own experiences as a stage designer.


Third period (1936 – about 1948)

Muzika reacted to the
Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
, the occupation of Czechoslovakia, and the brutality of war. Muzika's wartime period shows the torment and grief of this tragic time with allegorical pictures. His paintings with imaginary landscapes, dark atmospheres, and jarring metaphors created the feeling of dramatic tension and darkness of the time.


The post–war period

"During the post-war period František Muzika developed his own original poetics that, in close accord with the trends of contemporary international art, elaborated further the original orientation of his poetical vision of the world."


Final years (1948–1974)

Muzika's topic of his paintings was the fossilized world. Muzika erased the differences between the real and unreal, the microcosm and macrocosm. His works emphasized heavy symbolism.


Other work

In 1927 Muzika started to expand to other fields, such as stage design and book illustrations. He was an editor of cultural magazines. One example of his 107-stage designs is "Julietta" by
Bohuslav Martinů Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...
in the Czech National Theatre (1938). In 1927 he started his work on the book ''Krásné písmo'' (a history of Latin script), which was published in 1958 in Czechoslovakia and ''Schöne Schrift'' in 1965, in German. He also designed many posters; for example, he did a poster for
Emil Filla Emil Filla (4 April 1882 – 7 October 1953) was a Czech painter. He was a leader of the avant-garde in Prague between World War I and World War II and was an early Cubist painter. Early life Filla was born in Chropyně, Moravia, and spent hi ...
's exhibition and for Prague Spring 1946 and 1947. His symbol from the poster is still the logo for
Prague Spring International Music Festival The Prague Spring International Music Festival (, commonly , Prague Spring) is a classical music festival held every year in Prague, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles from around the world. The first festival ...
(Pražské jaro) today. He illustrated many books, including
Karel Čapek Karel Čapek (; 9 January 1890 – 25 December 1938) was a Czech writer, playwright, critic and journalist. He has become best known for his science fiction, including his novel '' War with the Newts'' (1936) and play '' R.U.R.'' (''Rossum' ...
's '' R.U.R.'' Muzika's pupils included Daniela Havlíčková and Eliška Konopiská.


Exhibitions

Muzika's paintings and drawings are in many Czech and foreign galleries, as well as in the
Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...
, Paris. Muzika had many exhibitions in Czechoslovakia, beginning in 1922.


International group exhibits

* 1948 – Biennale VeniceArchiv Národní galerie Praha (National Gallery Archives), Prague, Czech Republic * 1964 – Biennale Venice * 1968 – Obsessions et Visions, Gallery André François Petit, Paris (exhibited together with
Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( ; ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the art movement, which profoundly influenced the surrealists. His ...
,
Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...
,
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (11 May 190423 January 1989), known as Salvador Dalí ( ; ; ), was a Spanish Surrealism, surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, ...
,
René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...
) * 1969 – Surrealism in Europe, Baukunst Gallery, Cologne, Germany * 1969 – "Phases", Musee d'Ixelles, Brussels


International solo exhibits

* 1965 – Galleria del Naviglio, Milan, Italy * 1965 – Galleria del Cavallino, Venice, Italy * 1967 – Galerie Maya, Brussels, Belgium * 1971 – Lambert Monet Art Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland * 1972 – Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, Germany


International stage design exhibits

* Vienna 1935 * Milano 1936 * Paris 1937 * São Paulo 1959 * Touring exhibition, South America 1960–1963


International awards

* 1937 – 2 awards—exhibition in Paris (stage design)Památník národního písemnictví Praha, Prague, Czech Republic * 1939 – 2 awards VI. Triennale, Milan * 1959 – Gold Medal – books graphics, Leipzig, Germany


Czechoslovak awards

* 1939—Honor award—Society of Bibliophiles * 1949—State award for book design * 1961—Meritorious Artist (Zasloužilý umělec), for graphic work and pedagogic work * 1964—Award for book "Krásné Písmo" (Státní nakladatelství krásné literatury a umění) * 1966—Award and medal "Řád Práce" for lifetime art work and for theoretical and pedagogic work


Posters

* Prague Spring (international music festival) 1946, 1947, 198
Page with the logo
( or ''forte'') from Muzika's poster adorning the Rudolfinum during the annual festival * E. Filla exhibition 1947 * J. Wagner exhibition 1957


References


Literature

*Šmejkal, František: ''František Muzika''. Odeon Prague, 1966 (in Czech).


External links


František Muzika
(Archive of the
National Gallery Prague The National Gallery Prague (, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Czech and international fine a ...
)
ČRO Vltava 22.5.2012ČRO Vltava 25.7.2012, scénograf FM v AJG Hluboká

Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
Enter "Muzika" into the search field. {{DEFAULTSORT:Muzika, Frantisek 1900 births Czech male painters Czech illustrators Czech scenic designers 1974 deaths 20th-century Czech painters Artists from Prague 20th-century Czech male artists Academic staff of the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague