One of the ways in which members of modern society express themselves is by collecting fine art. The cosmos of their burgeoning collection conveys their passions, pursuits, and opinions on what is good, high-quality, meaningful and beautiful. We can think of collection-building as an open and dynamic process with an unknown endpoint, because as the collection grows, so does the collector’s knowledge and experience, and the future of the collection is slowly reshaped.
How to Collect Art: the Karel Tutsch Story is a long-term exhibition presenting the lifelong work of Karel Tutsch (1941–2008), a connoisseur, collector and tireless supporter of young artists. For more than a quarter of a century, he kept his Na bidýlku gallery in Brno going by personally underwriting its expenses. He helped to promote Czech art abroad, while giving foreign artists a platform back in his hometown.
This exhibition attempts to trace Tutsch’s journey from an amateur collector of small prints and bookplates to an acclaimed expert and owner of one of the most important collections in the Czech Republic at the time. The individual artworks amassed by Tutsch in his flat in Brno form a subjective and thus one-of-a-kind encyclopaedia of Czech art spanning from the mid-1960s to the turn of the millennium. The exhibition ends with a section devoted to the early-noughties Berlin art scene, with which the gallerist maintained contact and which, back then, was in its heyday, attracting aspiring artists from all over Europe.
The Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové (GMU) purchased the collection in 2021. The next year, it added a set of original drawings for catalogues published by Na bidýlku. An online catalogue of nearly 1,300 paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, objects, incomplete conceptual installations, pieces used in performances at private views, and rarities is available on the GMU website.
The exhibition was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Statutory City of Hradec Králové.
Vladimír Boudník, André Butzer, Roberto Cabot, Jiří David, Stanislav Diviš, Jiří Georg Dokoupil, Rudolf Fila, Michal Gabriel, Kurt Gebauer, Andrew Gilbert, Jiří Havlíček, Pavel Hayek, Aleš Hudeček, Dalibor Chatrný, Jasper Joffe, Jan Knap, Vladimír Kokolia, Vladimír Komárek, Jiří Kovanda, Alena Kučerová, Milan Kunc, Petr Kvíčala, Aleš Lamr, Kalin Lindena, Christian Macketanz, Ján Mančuška, Jiří Načeradský, Vladimír Novák, Villi / Vilém Nowak
Ivan Ouhel, Petr Pavlík, Jiří Petrbok, Robert Piesen, Otto Placht, Naděžda Plíšková, Ulric Roldanus, Zdenek Rykr, Zbyněk Sekal, Markus Selg, Harold Schouten, Zbyšek Sion, Vladimír Skrepl, Otakar Slavík, Jiří Sopko, Hartmut Sörgel, Astrid Sourkova (Habima Fuchs), Jiří Sozanský, Alice Stepanek & Steven Maslin, Antonín Střížek, Tomáš Svoboda, Katarína Szanyi, Jakub Špaňhel, Max Švabinský, Jan Vaněk, Tomáš Vaněk, Thomas Winkler, Otto Zitko
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
FROM LEFT: Jiří Sopko, GREEN RUNNER (1969); HEADS (c. 1988–1991); Jiří Načeradský, UPWARDS (1983); FACTORY BOYS (1967); RUNNER K. (1967); RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL SON (1966)
View of the Exhibition
Detail of Jiří Sopko, SCREAM (1976)
FROM LEFT: Vladimír Kokolia, FROM THE LAND OF MAY FAIRYTALES (1986); Vladimír Novák, VISTA (1979); EXPERIMENT (1981); Kurt Gebauer, DWARF MONUMENT (1985); GHOSTS: TANKMEN, PATTERNS – MONUMENTS, ALERTNESS, AGITATION MACHINE, ROCKY, CAGEHEADS, TOWARDS THE FUTURE, CONGRESS, SWING – SWING (1987); FLASHING HEAD (1977–1988)
View of the Exhibition
FROM LEFT: Ivan Ouhel, BUD (1983); QUARRY (1984); LANDSCAPE (1983); Vladimír Kokolia, SNACK (1985)
FROM LEFT: Jiří Kovanda, UNTITLED (1985); Michal Gabriel, BIRD (1986); PEGAS (1987); PEGAS (1987)
View of the Exhibition
Detail of Jiří Georg Dokoupil, PROGUE SERIES 1–8
FROM LEFT: Jiří David, ON ROSES (1988); HOME (1988); Stanislav Diviš, THORNS (1987)
FROM LEFT: Stanislav Diviš, CLOWNS (PARADE OF OFFICIALS – WE WILL REMAIN FAITHFUL) (1985); Otto Placht, APACHE (c. 1986–1987); Michal Gabriel, THREE DOGS (1986); Jiří Kovanda, UNTITLED(1986); Antonín Střížek, ARMCHAIR (1990); PEACOCK (1988)
Detail of Michal Gabriel, THREE DOGS (1986)
Jiří Kovanda, A LOVE LYRIC (1988)
FROM RIGHT: Jiří Kovanda, CRUEL HISTORY (1987); UNTITLED (1985); Antonín Střížek, PEARLS (1991); Michal Gabriel, FROM A PRIMEVAL FOREST (1987–1988); Antonín Střížek, OWL (1989)
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
FROM LEFT: Jiří David, FROM THE HIDDEN IMAGES SERIES (1992); FROM THE HANDS ABOVE ART SERIES (1998); Ján Mančuška, UNTITLED I–V (2000); BLUE OVAL (1998); BLUE SECTOR (1998)
FROM TOP: Tomáš Vaněk, UNTITLED (PARTICIP NO. 6) I–V (1999); PARTICIP NO. 7 (2024)
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
FROM LEFT: Tomáš Svoboda, NIGHT STREET (2000); Vladimír Skrepl, UNTITLED I–II (2002 and 2024); UNTITLED (2002)
FROM LEFT: Harold Schouten, PAINTED ON WATTER 5 (1992); PAINTED ON WATTER I–III (1992); Christian Macketanz, SLEEP AND TRANSFORMATION I–IV, STILL LIFE (1994 and 1995); Milan Kunc, STILL LIFE I–III (1994); Jan Knap, STILL LIFE I–II (1995); Otto Zitko, UNTITLED I-II (1993); Christian Macketanz, MARTIN IN THE FOREST (2000)
View of the Exhibition
FROM TOP: Katarína Szanyi, UNDER A BLANKET (2002); SPELL (1999)
View of the Exhibition
FROM LEFT: Astrid Sourkova / Habima Fuchs, YOU WILL HAVE TO TRUST US I (c. 2003); UNTITLED (THE GREAT AGE OF THE MIMOSA) (c. 2005); THE NEIGHBOR’S DOG ATE THE CAKE (2004)
Markus Selg, TORTOUR (2004)
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
View of the Exhibition
