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Der Blaue Reiter Almanac in Czech Context

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2016

Abstract

Conference paper. Der Blaue Reiter Almanac, published under the editorial supervision of Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc in 1912 in Munich, is a major Avant-garde act, foreshadowing numerous future phenomena related to the Expressionist movement, both in global and Czech measure.

At the time of its appearance, the Czech cultural sphere prefers French impulses over any other influence and, as a result, seems not to pay too much attention to reflections of the early German Expressionism as represented by Die Brücke and Der Blaue Reiter. Thus only a very short notice announcing the publication of the Almanac appearing in Umělecký měsíčník in April 1912, in which the Almanac is criticised for being a mere product of uncertain and unfocused German artistic endeavours.

In the following issue of the same magazine, Josef Čapek publishes an unflattering review of Kandinsky's treatise Über das Gestige in der Kunst. In this case, Kandinsky's oeuvre is reprimanded for being only an outcome of an irritated sensibility.

Nevertheless, despite such biased criticism, the Almanac deserves more attention in order to uncover its underlying connections to the then Czech cultural environment.