The Road to Le Gran Jeu: Josef Šíma

The end of the Habsburg Monarchy and the rise of an independent Czechoslovak state played a key role in the establishing of international contacts by the Czech avant-garde.

Unlike most of the inter-war European avant-garde movements where contacts with their Czech counterparts were rather sparse, communication between Czech and French avant-garde was quite extensive. It could be credited for the most part to Josef Šíma.

The exhibition project aims to map the Šíma’s work from the early 1930s. The focus of the project lies on the occasion of the first time in the Czech Republic to present in detail and on unique pieces and documents one of the most remarkable chapters of the Czech avant-garde art abroad – the Šíma’s main influence in the Parisian group “Le Grand Jeu”.

Permanently residing in France from the beginning of the 1920s, Josef Šíma was the communication link for progressive artists from the young Czechoslovak Republic to get in touch with French artists who set the tone of contemporary art. Thanks to the dissolution of Austria-Hungary Czech artists were no longer in a subordinate position and were able to confidently enter into partnerships with avant-garde groups, such as the Great Game or the Surrealist Group.

The exhibition has been made possible with support from the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the City of Brno. It is part of the celebrations commemorating the 2018 anniversaries of the crucial events in 1918, 1968, and 1993 which were important for Czech statehood.