OTTAWA.- The Intimate World of Josef Sudek celebrates the work of an artist considered to be the father of Czech modernist photography. Sudek (18961976) created hundreds of some of the most moving images of the 20th century focused on nature, monuments, objects, streets and other themes. The exhibition covers Sudeks entire career, from 1920 to 1976. On display from October 28, 2016 to February 26, 2017, after its opening at the Jeu de Paume in Paris last summer, this inaugural exhibition organized by the Canadian Photography Institute of the
National Gallery of Canada is being presented in the Institutes new, dedicated space.
A donation in 2010 from a generous, anonymous donor made the Canadian Photography Institutes Sudek collection the largest of its kind outside the Czech Republic, with close to 1,800 pieces. We are delighted to present a portion of the collection to the North American audience through this outstanding exhibition, said Luce Lebart, Director of the Canadian Photography Institute. The works on loan from the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the Houston Museum of Fine Art, and a private collection also add considerable depth to the exhibition.
Through a selection of 163 works arranged around nine themes, the exhibition examines how Josef Sudeks photography reflects his personal relationship to the world around him, his explorations of the private world of his studio and garden seen from his window, as well as his meanderings further afield, through the streets of Prague and its outskirts, as well as excursions to the countryside nearby. The loss of his right arm during the First World War and the difficulties he subsequently encountered in transporting his view camera did not dampen his passion for photography.
Sudeks creativity was nourished by the artists, photographers, poets, publishers and musicians who formed the cornerstones of Pragues rich cultural life during the interwar years, a period of pioneering achievement in photography. The exhibition curators expanded the version soon to be on view at the National Gallery of Canada with a section focused on the work of photographers in his circle.
Sudeks studio window became an object of abiding fascinationrather like the surface of a canvasreflecting moments of exquisite tenderness and hope when a flowering branch brushed against its pane, or of poignant melancholy when he observed the world beyond his window transformed by the mist. The view from his room let him express his love of Prague on film. His photographs demonstrate both depth of feeling and a clear understanding of the historical wealth and architectural complexity of the Czech capital.
The Intimate World of Josef Sudek offers a fascinating panorama of the creative work of this unique artist.