Traces of Bronze and Stone: Josef Václav Škoda

Traces of Bronze and Stone: Josef Václav Škoda
23/06/23–14/01/24

curator: Jan Florentýn Báchor | GVP

Josef Václav Škoda (1901–1949) was an important interwar sculptor with close ties to Hradec Králové and the city’s surroundings. His works for the public space helped to shape an important era in the city’s history thanks to which Hradec Králové came to be called the “salon of the republic”.

His art also contributed to “building” the identity of the Czechoslovak Republic, which after its founding in 1918 needed to find its own distinctive artistic language and symbols that would distinguish it from the defunct Austria-Hungary. Hradec Králové and the nearby surroundings are home to more than ten
works by Škoda, including monuments to historical figures and politicians active at the time, allegorical sculptures, and sculptural decorations of architecture. Important examples of Škoda’s oeuvre are the monuments commemorating the two world wars that he designed for Piletice, Blešno, Svinary, and Pouchov. The exhibition aims to highlight the significance of Škoda’s sculptural work, which helped to cultivate public space in Hradec Králové.

The exhibition was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Statutory City of Hradec Králové.

Discover Art: 13 Public Sculptures

Set out in the footsteps of bronze and stone to discover thirteen works of art in the public space of Hradec Králové. The map has been produced to go with the exhibition Traces of Bronze and Stone: Josef Václav Škoda, held by the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové. It will guide you to thirteen locations associated with Škoda’s work in the city and its surroundings, including monuments, memorials, and allegorical sculpture groups. Clicking on a selected item displays photographs of the work’s current state, along with dates and a description.

The text was written by Jan Florentýn Báchor; the photographs are by Miroslav Podhrázský.

Allegorical sculpture group Confluence of the Elbe and Orlice Rivers
Monument to Ladislav Jan Pospíšil
Monument to Božena Němcová
Legionnaire for Monument to the Prokop Holý 4^th Regiment
Reliefs for the National Bank of Czechoslovakia
Light Bearers
Metalsmith
Monument to Alois Jirásek in the Pražské Předměstí district
Tanner and Currier
Jan Hus Memorial in Malšovice
Memorial to the Fallen of World War I in Svinary
Memorial to the Victims of World War I in Piletice
Memorial to the Fallen of World War I in Pouchov

Photoreport

View of the Exhibition

In the front: Josef Václav Škoda, CONFLUENCE OF THE ELBE AND ORLICE RIVERS (undated); in the back: Josef Václav Škoda, STUDY FOR CONFLUENCE OF THE ELBE AND ORLICE RIVERS (undated)