Subcollection 15 - Visual Arts
The subcollection Visual Arts contains works dating from a period from the 15th century until the present, of predominantly Czech and European origin. The bulk of the subcollection is made up of works from the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. A major part of the subcollection consists of graphics, drawings, and ex librises, with a smaller part comprising paintings and sculptures, but also furnishings, textiles, and items of decorative art.
A major part consists of the depositories of publishing houses: Vilímek, Otto, Kvasnička & Hampl, Šolc & Šimáček, Hyperion, Družstevní práce (accounting for about 100 000 collector's items). They comprise original drafts of book illustrations, dust jackets, and graphic designwork, which characterize the mission of the respective publisher and the level of contemporary literary culture.
Collector's and bibliophile's funds (the collections of J. Karásek of Lvovice, A. Saňka, J. Portman, J. Krecar, J. Knytl, and others), which originated at the turn of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century, illustrate contemporaneous trends among collectors, who were focusing especially on graphics, drawings, and illustrations, book design, and to a lesser extent paintings and sculptures.
The funds of visual artists (M. Alš, E. Bednářová, A. Hoffmeister, Z. Kratochvíl, V. Mašek, K. Müller, V. Preissig, K. Teige, J. Váchal, and others), whose work had a significant impact on the literary culture of the 20th century, are represented with graphics, drawings, sculptures, paintings, and collages.
The funds of literary figures (S. Čech, J. Drda, J.V. Frič, J. Holeček, J. Hora, E.E. Kisch, E. Krasnohorská, L. Mašinová, V. Nezval, J. Vrchlický, and others) reveal the visual art segment of these writers' personal collections that are deposited in the literary archive and the library of the PNP.
The fund of 20th century book illustrations capture the development of Czech illustrating art through works by the most important Czech artists in this field: Z. Braunerová, V.H. Brunner, F. Kobliha, J. Konůpek, A. Strnadel, K. Svolinský, J. Istler, B. Jirků, J. Koblasa, K. Nepraš, P. Nešleha, D. Puchnarová, J. Šerých, A. Šimotová, P. Sukdolák, V. Tesař, and others.
Subcollection 24 - Ex Libris
Subcollection 24 - Ex Libris consists of the collection of the "Kabinet Ex Libris" in Chrudim, the exlibrises contained in the collections of J. Karásek, A. Saňka, J. Knytl, and individual new acquisitions. The fund contains over 150 000 bookmarks of Czech and foreign origin from the 19th and the 20th century.
