Miloš Jiránek: The Struggle for a Modern Form of Painting, 1875–1911

This monograph is devoted to the painter, writer, critic, editor and organiser of art life Miloš Jiránek and to proceeds from two foundations. The first involves long-term research, including the study of all available art works in state and private collections, and a detailed survey of numerous secondary and primary archive sources. This approach and the use of contemporary interpretative methods make it possible to evaluate Jiránek’s work and the significance of the artist’s other activities in a wider context. The monograph describes Jiránek’s ‘struggle’ for a modern form of painting, which was waged with great seriousness and commitment, and it points to some hidden features of modernism in the first decade of the 20th century.
The monograph’s second foundation is the author’s reflections on what a monograph on an artist should today be like for it to be used with ease and repeatedly as a source of information with a clear structure. For this reason (and in conformity with the logic of Jiránek’s efforts) the book opens with a study that explains Jiránek’s overall significance against the backdrop of the evolution of modernism. This study is followed by interspersed biographic and interpretative texts devoted to specific aspects of Jiránek’s life and work. The book closes with a list of exhibitions, a bibliography, an index of names, and an English summary.