Obraz jako ambiente : stupňování efektu na pražských výstavách poslední třetiny 19. století
| Title in English | The Painting as Ambiente : Intensifying the Effect in Prague Exhibitions of the Last Third of the 19th Century |
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| Year of publication | 2026 |
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| Description | Large-format paintings tend to have the immersive effect of ambiente — it occurs when the viewer is completely absorbed by the painting and can even imagine moving within it. These are canvases measuring approximately ten square meters or more, with the figures depicted typically life-size, especially the repoussé-like ones in the foreground of the scene. During their international tours, these giant paintings were exhibited in unconventional spaces and became sensations; in addition, they were welcome attractions at group exhibitions, including the Prague “salons” organized by the Fine Arts Association in Bohemia. Most of these were historical paintings in the context of the 19th-century instrumentalization of the past. The prevalence of colossal blockbusters was based on specific marketing and promotional strategies, so that the clients’ input was decisive even at the stage of selecting a pictorial motif. During the period in question, the Kraków painter Jan Matejko exhibited such works in Prague on several occasions, as did his compatriot Henryk Siemiradzki, who was working in Rome, on one occasion; among Czech painters, it was primarily Václav Brožík and another of the “Czech Parisians” Václav Sochor, as well as Julius von Payer, a native of Teplice, reflecting on his experiences from polar expeditions. Other painters also sought to draw attention to themselves with at least one large canvas measuring 10 m2 or more at the annual exhibitions of the Fine Arts Association, such as Emanuel Krescenc Liška, Vojtěch Hynais, Theodor Hilšer, and Adolf Liebscher. After the invention of cinema, the effect of being transported to another world became the domain of the silver screen, and giant historical paintings were perceived as anachronistic (e.g., Alfons Mucha’s Slav Epic). However now, in the last 2–3 decades, colossal paintings have regained their appeal. |
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