History of Czech Visual Art

Work on this extensive project continued from the 1970s up until 2007. The basic concept was gradually extended to include a separate part covering the period 1780-1890, and later to divide the period 1938-2000 into two further parts. The articles in the "History" were prepared by staff from the Institute of Art History and external experts. The work is currently being continued with the preparation of a "History of the Visual Arts in Bohemia and Moravia", to be published in a single volume in foreign languages.

History of Czech Visual Art, parts I-VI, published by the Academia publishing house

Rudolf Chadraba – Josef Krása (edd.), Dějiny českého výtvarného umění. Od počátku do konce středověku, I/1–2 [A History of Czech Visual Art. From the Beginnings to the End of the Midddle Ages], Praha 1984

The two-volume publication describes the development of art in Bohemia and Moravia from prehistoric times to the beginning of the 16th century.

Jiří Dvorský – Eliška Fučíková (edd.), Dějiny českého výtvarného umění. Od počátků renesance do závěru baroka II/1–2 [A History of Czech Visual Art. From the Beginnings of Renaissance to the End of Baroque], Praha 1989 more

The two-volume publication deals with the development of Renaissance, Mannerist and Baroque art in Bohemia and Moravia up to the end of the 18th century.

Taťána Petrasová – Helena Lorenzová (edd.), Dějiny českého výtvarného umění III/1–2, 1780–1890 [A History of Czech Visual Art, 1780-1890], Praha 2001 more

The two-volume publication represents the first comprehensive treatment of the development of the visual arts and architecture in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia in the 19th century.

Vojtěch Lahoda – Mahulena Nešlehová – Marie Platovská – Rostislav Švácha – Lenka Bydžovská (edd.), Dějiny českého výtvarného umění IV/1–2, 1890–1938 [A History of Czech Visual Art, 1890–1938], Praha 1998

The two-volume publication deals with art from the Art Nouveau period, through Cubism, to the avant-garde of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1999 it won the Prize of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic and the Prize of the Hlávka Foundation.

R. Švácha – M. Platovská (edd.), Dějiny českého výtvarného umění V, 1939–1958 [A History of Czech Visual Art,1939-1958], and Dějiny českého výtvarného umění VI /1–2, 1958–2000 [A History of Czech Visual Art, 1958-2000], Praha 2005 and 2007

These two tomes represent the conclusion of the major scholarly project of the Institute of Art History, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, to publish the first complete history of art in the Czech lands from prehistoric times down to the present day. Parts V and VI, to which dozens of specialists from Czech museums and universities contributed in addition to researchers from the Institute itself, presents a history of artistic activity in all fields, from the traditional forms of art to the new media of the late 20th century. Instead of the traditional division into genres, however, these two parts of the History place the emphasis on various movements, themes, and "isms", and examine how the output of artists in the Czech lands came to terms with the various political turning points in recent Czech history.