Art Collecting and Exhibition Projects: The Role of Mánes Union of Fine Artists in Introducing the Influence of Antoine Bourdelle into Czech Art
Abstract
At the turn of the 20th century, many European countries with Slavic roots looked to French sources of artistic inspiration, regarded as the ideal in art. A key intermediary in spreading the French artistic influence was Mánes Union of Fine Artists, which had been organising exhibitions introducing the Czech public to French art since 1902.
Six years later members of the Union formed ties with Émile-Antoine Bourdelle and in 1909 organised a Prague retrospective of this sculptor's work. Members of the Union regurarly exchanged official and private letters with Bourdelle and they tried to keep the sculptor's legacy alive even after the conclusion of the exhibition in Prague.
After Bourdelle's death, the Union communicated with his widow, C. Bourdelle, in an effort to bring to life an ambitious project to organise a posthumous exhibition devoted to the sculptor.