The phenomenon of hockey and ice skating in fine art is the subject of a new exhibition of the National Gallery Prague (NGP), which reopens the Kinské Palace on Old Town Square to visitors. The exhibition will present almost a hundred works across various art techniques and media from Czech institutional and private collections. They will be visiblefrom April 26 to October 27, both paintings by old masters and works by contemporary Czech artists.
How does folk entertainment become a work of art? Through an unusual exhibition, the National Gallery in Prague shows how skating and hockey, a much-loved sport in Bohemia, were reflected in art over time. Like the old masters even contemporary artists have captured the emotion, fun, and life associated with these sports. The current hockey world championship was the inspiration to look at this sporting phenomenon from a new point of view and bring something to the audience that hasn’t been seen before to see.
Ice skating began on frozen canals, lakes, and rivers in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries, then this social entertainment gradually moved to our landscapes and became a common part of winter for all classes of the population. At the beginning of the 20th century, real hockey began to be played here and the first winter stadium was built. This sport gradually began to be perceived as part of the national identity and found its place as a theme in art, for some artists it became a free field for artistic experiments.
“At the exhibition On ice! Hockey and ice skating in pictures we will show visitors how paintings of old masters such as Pieter Brueghel II. or Norbert Grund, the most outstanding creator of Czech art of the 19th century – August Bedřich Piepenhagen, Karel Purkyně or Antonín Barvitio. But a number of works with the theme of hockey throughout the 20th century will also be exhibited, and last but not least, the works of contemporary artists,” says the general director of the National Gallery Prague, Alicja Knast, adding: “I am pleased that we are opening up a topic that has not yet been treated more comprehensively presented.”
Across media and centuries
The exhibition, which was prepared by NGP in cooperation with the Sport in Art platform and with the support of general partner Komerční banka, will present almost a hundred works of art from Czech collections. In addition to the aforementioned artists, they will be seen and (not only) the Prague rinks of T. F. Šimon, Otakar Nejedlý, or Karel Holan. Marcel Niederle’s drawings draw viewers into the world of hockey and the first big matches and victories, many hockey moments are also reminded of the photographs. “In addition to the classical treatment of the theme in painting and drawing, experimental artistic approaches by Jiří Kolář, Vojtěch Tittelbach and Teodor Rotrekl are also presented,” explains the curator of the exhibition, Anna Strnadlová.
The 1990s opened up new possibilities, which in art on the hockey theme are manifested mainly by a critical and even ironic perspective, as can be seen in the works of Krištof Kintera, Jiří Surůvka and Ondřej Kohout. “In cooperation with the NGP, we approached contemporary artists to create new works on the subject of hockey specifically for this exhibition. They include Alena Anderlová, Pavel Jestřáb, Alena Kotzmannová, Laura Limbourg, Julius Reichel, Paulina Skavova, Jakub Špaňhel, Karel Štědrý and Jan Vytiska,” says Petr Volf from the Sport in Art platform.
Hana Kovářová, Executive Director for Brand Strategy and Communication from Komerční banka, which is the general partner of the exhibition, adds: “On the tenth anniversary of cooperation with the National Gallery Prague, we gave each other this unique gift in the form of the exhibition On ice! It is no coincidence that it combines hockey and art, in the year when the national team is playing the World Championship in Prague. I would like to cordially invite everyone to the exhibition to explore for themselves how sport, which is so fundamental to the Czech Republic, is reflected in art.”
The exhibition will be open from April 26 to October 27, 2024 in the Kinský Palace on the Old Town Square, i.e. a place connected with the history of hockey
and celebrating his achievements. A Czech and English catalog is published for the exhibition.
On the ice! Hockey and ice skating in pictures
Venue: Kinských Palace, Staroměstské náměstí 1/3, 1st floor
Date: April 26 – October 27, 2024
Curator: Anna Strnadlová
Professional collaboration: Petra Kolářová, Olga Kotková, Blanka Kubíková,
Michal Novotny, Petr Volf
In cooperation with the platform: Sport in Art
General partner of the exhibition: Komerční banka
A Czech and English catalog is published for the exhibition.