Jan Kotěra: Czech Modern Architecture in Context

Jan Kotěra (1871‒1923) is considered the most significant architect, designer, pedagogue, organizer and artist of the first half of the 20th century in the Czech Republic. Jan Kotěra's last monograph was published almost a quarter of a century ago, but in the meantime research on his work and legacy has moved on significantly. The new collective book presents Kotěra as an important pedagogue (two chapters focus on his work at the School of Applied Arts and the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague). Four chapters focus on various areas of his work: one chapter identifies historicism and romanticism in his conception of modernity, two chapters are devoted to his urbanism. A separate chapter deals with his collaboration with artists using the example of the sculptor Stanislav Sucharda. Five chapters are devoted to the international contexts of Kotěra's work: Great Britain, the Netherlands, the United States, Japan and the so-called Balkan and Adriatic countries. The authors of the chapter belong to the young and middle generation of Czech art historians led by Ladislav Jackson and Helena Čapková. The book is accompanied by author's illustrations by Jan Šrámek, contemporary photographs by Jiří Zikmund and a number of historical images, designs and drawings from leading historical institutions.