News Release
December 1999
Czech artists were passionate participants and innovators
in the avant-garde movements that transformed European art in the years
between the two World Wars. The period saw a flowering of Czech culture
parallel to that of the Weimar Republic in Germany. This exhibition
presents the brilliance of Czech graphic design, illustration, photography,
and photomontage in the 20s and 30s. It is comprised of approximately
800 books and journals generously loaned from the collection of Czech
scholar and author Zdenek Primus. The exhibition is circulated by Curatorial
Assistance, Los Angeles, and will be presented in two parts.
The exhibition highlights the work of several masters
of Czech book design, including Karel Teige, Jindrich Styrský,
Toyen, Ladislav Sutnar, Vít Obrtel, Zdenek Rossmann, Otakar Mrkvicka,
Frantisek Muzika, and many others. Most of the artists represented in
the collection were members of the 1920s avant-garde association Devetsil.
The collection is the largest of its kind and is one of the most complete
in the area of Czech avant-garde book production.
Payne Gallery is located in the Priscilla Payne Hurd Center
for Music and Art, on the Church Street Campus of Moravian College in
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Payne Gallery is open 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
daily, except Mondays and major holidays, and is free of charge to the
public. Bethlehem is sixty miles north of Philadelphia and ninety miles
west of New York City.
