The exhibition surface On the Wall, which is part of the permanent exhibition 20th-Century Czech Art and Its Labels, is dedicated to styles, motifs, groups and artists that have remained outside the mainstream narrative of modern art. These works document the multi-layered character of the era’s artistic production and remind us of the limitations of the art-historical “sieve” that all works of art must pass through before they can become a part of codified art history.
The Circle of Women Artists (Kruh výtvarných umělkyň, KVU) was the first Czech women’s art association. The group did not represent any particular style or generation of artists; instead, it sought to provide a professional foundation for female artists entering public life and the art scene as independent creative personalities.
The Circle was born in 1920 via the transformation of the Fine Arts Section of the Central Association of Czech Women, which had been organizing exhibitions and other activities since 1917. The association was headed by Valérie Hachla-Myslivečková. According to its statues, the Circle’s objective was to promote the artistic interests of Czech women artists and to defend them in material matters as well. This mission statement reflected a real need for exhibition spaces, the sale of artworks, professional contacts and a united voice at a time when women’s art was still viewed with scepticism.
The Circle brought together artists from multiple generations and disciplines: painters, sculptors, printmakers and applied artists. Its basic activities included the organization of regular exhibitions, lectures, courses and other educational activities.
The first members’ exhibition of the Circle of Women Artists was held in February 1921 at Prague’s Municipal House. That same year, the group also exhibited in Hradec Králové. There followed numerous exhibitions in Bohemian and Moravian cities, and occasionally in Slovakia as well. With these activities, the group expanded its range of influence outside Prague and established a network by which artists’ works could be presented to the broader public. In 1922, the Circle was accepted into the Syndicate of Czechoslovak Fine Artists.
The Circle’s interwar activities had an international dimension as well. In 1927, six Czechoslovak women artists participated in an exhibition at Galerie A. G. Fabre in Paris: V. Jičínská, J. Winterová-Mezerová, A. Macková, M. Podhajská, H. Šrámková and V. Dysmasová. Foreign exhibitions combined women’s emancipation with the cultural representation of the newly independent Czechoslovakia and thus helped to shape the image of the modern republic.
The activities of the Circle of Women Artists gradually faded after 1948. Nevertheless, its significance remains closely tied to the time in our history when women first began to assert themselves systematically on the Czech scene – as artists, organisers, and public figures actively involved in shaping the modern cultural landscape.
The exhibited selection of works recalls the connection of some of these artists to eastern Bohemia and thus continues the gallery’s long-standing interest in the work of artists associated with the region.
The exhibition was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Statutory City of Hradec Králové.
