Pavla Machalíková – Tomáš Winter (edd.)
The world of children is a theme that had an uncommonly powerful impact on modern art. It was a focal interest of painter and writer Josef Čapek, whose works for children occupy a unique place in Czech culture. This theme moreover served as inspiration for other artists, such as poets František Hrubín and Jan Skácel, who forged their own creative path to the world of children. Their poetry collections Modré nebe (The Blue Sky, 1948) and Kam odešly laně (Where the Does Went, 1985) were inspired by motifs in Čapek’s drawings in which children are the subject matter and which were first published at a special exhibition in 1935. In 1950 composer Miloslav Kabeláč composed a cycle of children’s choruses that he titled Modré nebe (The Blue Sky), with the subtitle A Little Book of Children’s Songs Based on the Pictures of Josef Čapek and the Words of František Hrubín for Children’s Chorus and Piano.
Nespatříte hada (Not a Single Snake in Sight) explores these links. It delves into the more general questions that the world of children, art for children, and art by children opened up for modern Czech (and European) visual arts, literature, and music.
The creative approach that Čapek, Hrubín, Skácel, and Kabeláč adopted is unique evidence of multimedia inspirations in modern art, which remain relevant to the present day. In order to make use of the multimedia aspect in this publication, the book includes a CD with a recording of Kabeláč’s The Blue Sky, performed by Radost Children’s Choir, and recitations of Hrubín’s and Skácel’s verse by Disman’s Children’s Radio Ensemble.
First edition, bilingual publication, in Czech and English, 160 pp., colour illustrations, Praha 2016
ISBN 978-80-86890-88-3
