Bohemia at the Met
Bohemian rhapsody in NYC
A new exhibition at the Met highlights 14th-century masterworks that have never before left the Czech Republic
DEANNA MACDONALD
October 1, 2005
NEW YORK -- When Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, set out in the 14th century to make Prague his capital, he could never have imagined that part of his opulent legacy would find its way to Fifth Avenue. But from now until Jan. 6, 2006, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting a landmark exhibition -- Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437 -- featuring masterworks that have never before left the Czech Republic, let alone journeyed to the New World.
Travellers to New York will discover a different kind of Bohemia -- not the kind found in the East Village, but one of the great, unsung cultural centres of Europe. Prague found itself on the east side of the Cold War, and only since the Velvet Revolution of 1989 have Westerners started flocking to the city to take in its glorious sights.
"If you know of Notre Dame in Paris, you should know St. Vitus in Prague; if you know Fra Angelico, for example, you should know [14th-century artist] Master Theodoric," said Barbara Drake Boehm, co-curator of the show and the Met's curator of medieval art.
The exhibit is designed to bring Bohemia into the art-historical limelight. "By bringing together many of the most outstanding examples of Bohemian art of the 14th and 15th century, the exhibition will shed new light on the art and culture of this imperial city," said Philippe de Montebello, the museum's director.
The show begins with a sweeping panorama of Prague, circa 1606: a vista of Gothic pinnacles and crenellated towers familiar to anyone who has visited the City of a Thousand Spires. An arched portal leads into a ruby red gallery, which sets off the gold and luscious colours of medieval objets d'art including a gilded reliquary bust of St. Ludmilla -- the royal grandmother of King Wenceslas -- whose black eyes gaze serenely at onlookers, or the action-packed Kaufmann Crucifixion, which co-curator Jiri Fajt called "probably one of the greatest works of art in medieval Bohemia."
The show contains everything from an artist's playing-card-sized model book, filled with drawings of different human and animal types, real and mythical, to huge panel paintings such as those by Master Theodoric. Court painter to Charles IV, Theodoric decorated Karlstejn Castle (just outside of Prague) with dozens of images of vivid, full-figured saints that seem to burst from their frames. Two have made the trip to the Met. One, St. Luke, looks slightly surprised to have a flying yellow bull (his saintly attribute) whispering inspiration in his ear.
The show explores the golden age of Charles IV through to that of his sons, Wenceslas IV and Sigismund, whose less-than-glorious rules led to the Hussite Revolution. Reflecting the era, most artworks are in some way related to the Christian Church, but if you look closely, there are reflections of everyday life, such as the affection between mother and child in the Beautiful Madonnas. These idealized images of golden-haired, rose-petal-lipped virgins were criticized at the time for being inappropriately provocative. One medieval commentator noted that these "beautiful virgin saints arouse lust in men." Less appetizing are figures who cover their faces against the stench of rotting bodies in a painting from the Rajhrad Altarpiece, a bit of stark realism creeping into Bohemian art in the violent age of the Hussite wars.
Architectural buffs will be drawn to rarely seen sketches by noted architect Peter Parler of St. Vitus Cathedral from around 1365; Parler's cross-sections of flying buttresses are complete with gargoyles. Fashionistas will marvel at golden medieval buttons and buckles found hidden in the walls of Karlstejn Castle, and avid travellers will find the illustrated manuscript of the Travels of Sir John Mandeville to the Middle East and China adds new meaning to the phrase "off the beaten path."
Afterwards, wander over to nearby Madison Avenue to see a more modern vision of Prague at the Czech Center New York, which this fall will hold an exhibit of celebrated Czech photographer Josef Sudek's (1896-1976) images of Prague Cathedral. And after getting a taste for Central Europe, head further east (actually, north on Fifth Avenue) to Russia!, a blockbuster show at the Guggenheim Museum that explores Russian art from 13th-century icons to the present, with many pieces that have never before left the motherland. Displayed in the Guggenheim's spiralling rotunda are medieval icons by Andrei Rublev, portraits of Catherine the Great, images of the Russian everyman -- from the 19th-century paintings of Ilya Repin to the monumental workers of Soviet social realism -- and works by modern artists, including Ilya Kabakov's subversively comic installation The Man who Flew into Space (1981-88).
Deanna MacDonald is an art historian and author of the forthcoming Art for Travellers: Prague (Interlink, October, 2005).
Pack your bags
EXHIBITIONS
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1000 Fifth Ave. (at 82nd Street), New York; 212-535-7710; http://www.metmuseum.org. Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437 is on until Jan. 3, 2006 in the Met's Tisch Galleries. The show moves to Prague Castle on Feb. 16, 2006.
Czech Center New York: 1109 Madison Ave. (at 83rd Street); 212-288-0830; http://www.czechcenter.com. Josef Sudek and the Magic of Prague Cathedral is running until Nov. 4.
Guggenheim Museum: 1071 Fifth Ave. (at 89th Street); 212-423-3500; http://www.guggenheim.org. Russia! runs until Jan. 11, 2006.
WHERE TO STAY
The comfortable and welcoming Franklin Hotel (164 East 87th St.; 1-800-607-4009; franklinhotel.com; doubles from $350) is a short walk from the Met on the elegant Upper East Side.
Also close by, the Hotel Carlyle (35 East 76th St.; 212-744-1600; thecarlyle.com; doubles from $640) overflows with Old World-style luxury. Have a post-museum drink in Bemelmans Bar, decorated in the 1940s by Ludwig Bemelmans, creator of the Madeline children's books.
A new exhibition at the Met highlights 14th-century masterworks that have never before left the Czech Republic
DEANNA MACDONALD
October 1, 2005
NEW YORK -- When Charles IV, King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, set out in the 14th century to make Prague his capital, he could never have imagined that part of his opulent legacy would find its way to Fifth Avenue. But from now until Jan. 6, 2006, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art is hosting a landmark exhibition -- Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437 -- featuring masterworks that have never before left the Czech Republic, let alone journeyed to the New World.
Travellers to New York will discover a different kind of Bohemia -- not the kind found in the East Village, but one of the great, unsung cultural centres of Europe. Prague found itself on the east side of the Cold War, and only since the Velvet Revolution of 1989 have Westerners started flocking to the city to take in its glorious sights.
"If you know of Notre Dame in Paris, you should know St. Vitus in Prague; if you know Fra Angelico, for example, you should know [14th-century artist] Master Theodoric," said Barbara Drake Boehm, co-curator of the show and the Met's curator of medieval art.
The exhibit is designed to bring Bohemia into the art-historical limelight. "By bringing together many of the most outstanding examples of Bohemian art of the 14th and 15th century, the exhibition will shed new light on the art and culture of this imperial city," said Philippe de Montebello, the museum's director.
The show begins with a sweeping panorama of Prague, circa 1606: a vista of Gothic pinnacles and crenellated towers familiar to anyone who has visited the City of a Thousand Spires. An arched portal leads into a ruby red gallery, which sets off the gold and luscious colours of medieval objets d'art including a gilded reliquary bust of St. Ludmilla -- the royal grandmother of King Wenceslas -- whose black eyes gaze serenely at onlookers, or the action-packed Kaufmann Crucifixion, which co-curator Jiri Fajt called "probably one of the greatest works of art in medieval Bohemia."
The show contains everything from an artist's playing-card-sized model book, filled with drawings of different human and animal types, real and mythical, to huge panel paintings such as those by Master Theodoric. Court painter to Charles IV, Theodoric decorated Karlstejn Castle (just outside of Prague) with dozens of images of vivid, full-figured saints that seem to burst from their frames. Two have made the trip to the Met. One, St. Luke, looks slightly surprised to have a flying yellow bull (his saintly attribute) whispering inspiration in his ear.
The show explores the golden age of Charles IV through to that of his sons, Wenceslas IV and Sigismund, whose less-than-glorious rules led to the Hussite Revolution. Reflecting the era, most artworks are in some way related to the Christian Church, but if you look closely, there are reflections of everyday life, such as the affection between mother and child in the Beautiful Madonnas. These idealized images of golden-haired, rose-petal-lipped virgins were criticized at the time for being inappropriately provocative. One medieval commentator noted that these "beautiful virgin saints arouse lust in men." Less appetizing are figures who cover their faces against the stench of rotting bodies in a painting from the Rajhrad Altarpiece, a bit of stark realism creeping into Bohemian art in the violent age of the Hussite wars.
Architectural buffs will be drawn to rarely seen sketches by noted architect Peter Parler of St. Vitus Cathedral from around 1365; Parler's cross-sections of flying buttresses are complete with gargoyles. Fashionistas will marvel at golden medieval buttons and buckles found hidden in the walls of Karlstejn Castle, and avid travellers will find the illustrated manuscript of the Travels of Sir John Mandeville to the Middle East and China adds new meaning to the phrase "off the beaten path."
Afterwards, wander over to nearby Madison Avenue to see a more modern vision of Prague at the Czech Center New York, which this fall will hold an exhibit of celebrated Czech photographer Josef Sudek's (1896-1976) images of Prague Cathedral. And after getting a taste for Central Europe, head further east (actually, north on Fifth Avenue) to Russia!, a blockbuster show at the Guggenheim Museum that explores Russian art from 13th-century icons to the present, with many pieces that have never before left the motherland. Displayed in the Guggenheim's spiralling rotunda are medieval icons by Andrei Rublev, portraits of Catherine the Great, images of the Russian everyman -- from the 19th-century paintings of Ilya Repin to the monumental workers of Soviet social realism -- and works by modern artists, including Ilya Kabakov's subversively comic installation The Man who Flew into Space (1981-88).
Deanna MacDonald is an art historian and author of the forthcoming Art for Travellers: Prague (Interlink, October, 2005).
Pack your bags
EXHIBITIONS
Metropolitan Museum of Art: 1000 Fifth Ave. (at 82nd Street), New York; 212-535-7710; http://www.metmuseum.org. Prague, The Crown of Bohemia, 1347-1437 is on until Jan. 3, 2006 in the Met's Tisch Galleries. The show moves to Prague Castle on Feb. 16, 2006.
Czech Center New York: 1109 Madison Ave. (at 83rd Street); 212-288-0830; http://www.czechcenter.com. Josef Sudek and the Magic of Prague Cathedral is running until Nov. 4.
Guggenheim Museum: 1071 Fifth Ave. (at 89th Street); 212-423-3500; http://www.guggenheim.org. Russia! runs until Jan. 11, 2006.
WHERE TO STAY
The comfortable and welcoming Franklin Hotel (164 East 87th St.; 1-800-607-4009; franklinhotel.com; doubles from $350) is a short walk from the Met on the elegant Upper East Side.
Also close by, the Hotel Carlyle (35 East 76th St.; 212-744-1600; thecarlyle.com; doubles from $640) overflows with Old World-style luxury. Have a post-museum drink in Bemelmans Bar, decorated in the 1940s by Ludwig Bemelmans, creator of the Madeline children's books.
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