Tomáš Hylmar

„Jsme jediní moderní ve svých generacích.“Úvahy nad činností Skupiny 42 v dopise Jindřicha Chalupeckého z roku 1945

When Group 42 held its first postwar exhibition in 1945, the initiator of the renewal of activity was the young theorist and art critic Jiří Kotalík. The members of the group, namely František Gross, František Hudeček, Jan Kotík, Kamil Lhoták, Jan Smetana, Karel Souček, Josef Kainar, Ivan Blatný and Jiří Kolář, were at that time exhibiting their drawings, watercolours and prints and reciting their poems in the Pošova Gallery in Prague. The exhibition was given a positive reception in the reviews of art critics. Jindřich Chalupecký, who was active in the establishment of Group 42 and in its first exhibitions in 1943, did not participate in the preparations for this exhibition. He waited to see if the members of the association would be able to appear again together in public. The successfully renewed activity of the group nevertheless evoked a reaction from him and in the course of the exhibition, in September 1945, he sent an extensive letter to Jiří Kotalík and all members of the association. In it he analyses the position of the group in the Czech art scene and deals with the basic question of whether to continue. He considers Group 42 to be an elite association, the only one that is modern and stands out from the rest. He recommends maintaining the activity of the group and also its exclusivity. He formulates the programme of the association with the aid of critical questions to which he also supplies the answers. He even foresees the future of Group 42, which he felt should become a centre for further artists. In conclusion he also plans a great retrospective exhibition and the publication of an extensive monograph. In the end these great plans came to nothing. The group organised further exhibitions in Bratislava and in Brno. But this was followed by gradual disintegration and after 1948 Group 42 vanished completely.

Tomáš Hylmar: tomas.hylmar@ngprague.cz

< back