The exhibition 20th-Century Czech Art and Its Labels presents labels that are used to define the chronology of 20th-century Czech art and are commonly found as chapter headings in art history publications: the Mařák School, sculpture, Symbolism, Cubism, Surrealism, Group 42, (un)official art in 1948–1989, the eighties generation, the 1990s. Each of these “boxes” represents a broader category (a school, an -ism, etc.), but they also define particular groups of works and artists and present us with different challenges.

No artist likes to be pigeonholed, and yet everybody falls under some kind of label – otherwise we wouldn’t be able to compare, appreciate or even talk about artists in a broader context. Some art historical terms and labels are so natural today that we don’t even notice them. We quite naturally order works of art by region, period or style, but we could just as well categorize them by colour or size. Even so, it is definitely not this exhibition’s intent to abolish labels. Instead, it seeks to point out the meanings associated with them.

For instance, is the Mařák School a physical school, or a stylistic one? Czech Cubism was characterized by a short half-life and was constantly splitting into ever newer branches. Compared to other groupings of artists, Group 42 stands out for its popularity and “brand name”. The idea of official vs. non-official art distorts the reality of the socialist-era art world, which was more interconnected, meaning that this duality was not as clear-cut. The concept of an eighties generation reflects our not necessarily accurate view of history as a constantly accelerating process in which fundamental changes happen every decade, eventually leading to the “wild nineties”.

And yet, we cannot tell the tale of art history without such labels and categories. We don’t have to avoid them, but we can use them cautiously, with an awareness of their strengths and weaknesses. Let’s take a closer look at them.

An accompanying Czech-language publication, Škatulky českého výtvarného umění 20. století (Labels in 20th-Century Czech Art) is going to be available for purchase in the gallery lobby.