About the Gallery

The new Jan Svatoš Art Gallery in Kostelec nad Černými lesy was ceremoniously opened on Saturday, September 18, 2010.

This gallery is mainly focused on ceramic sculpture and its ambition is to offer an exhibition space to leading Czech and foreign ceramicists-sculptors, who do not have much opportunity to exhibit in an adequate classy environment. The concept of the gallery is not only oriented to the exhibition side, but its aim is also to attract cultural people interested in buying works of art, which will be offered to them here in a wide range and in a permanent time.

The gallery’s exhibition space is not only a reconstructed barn, but also a landscaped garden, a lookout tower and a stone auditorium in front of the gallery. The total exhibition area of the gallery is 7,309 square meters.

The new gallery of ceramic sculpture is the work of architect Ing. Jan Línek, our leading modern contemporary author, and the successful symbiosis of architectural design and exhibited art objects is worth seeing.

The location of the gallery of ceramic sculpture follows in a way the tradition of Kostelec, which has been closely and dominantly connected with the production of pottery and artistic ceramics since the middle of the 19th century. As early as 1900, about a hundred workers were employed in the thirteen workshops. In 1908, a large ceramic factory “Alois Vondráček a spol.” Was established in Kostelec. Professors of the Prague School of Applied Arts Josef Drahoňovský and Jaroslav Horejc worked in his factory. Ferdinand Vondráček collaborated with Krásná jizba Družstevní práce, exhibiting with great success in its Prague exhibition hall on Národní třída. The July tea ensemble, which can be considered one of the peaks of Czech functionalist ceramics, has long been included in art historical publications.

With the arrival of the new generation wave of Kostelec ceramics of the 1940s, which consisted mainly of Jaroslav Vondráček and Jaroslav Stuchlík, cooperation with Prague artists was re-established. They both invited young artists from the protectorate of Prague, letting them work with them and thus creating an inspiring atmosphere for their permanent, aesthetically untrained employees. Petr Tučný (future professor and European-renowned designer), Josef Istler (future important figure in abstract painting), sculptor Jiří Jílek, ceramicists Pravoslav Rada and Julie Horová went through these church workshops.

Even during the socialist cooperative under the heading “Cooperative of Art Production KERAMO”, many realizations were created in Kostelec from the designs of leading artists (Šilar, Košnář, Forejtová, Těhník, Hausner and others).

The exhibition, which was opened during the first opening of the gallery, consists of works by Štěpánka Bašková, Elžbieta Grosseová, Jiří Kožíšek, Jiří Lašťovička, Jiřina Marešová, Milan Martiník, Miroslav Oliva, Šárka Radová, Lubomír Šilar and Jitka Wernerová. , but he is also beginning to write a new chapter in the promotion of fine arts in Central Europe.

The gallery is mostly barrier-free. It offers its facilities for cultural events, such as exhibitions, openings, concerts, garden parties, theater performances and workshop activities. In the gallery area, it is possible to use several ceramic kilns with different firing methods, pottery circles and other facilities for creation with ceramics and porcelain. The entire gallery area is covered by free Wi-Fi internet.

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