Contemporary Eastern European Prints

This exhibition will present a selection of graphic works by Czech, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Slovak and Slovenian artists, offering an extraordinary glimpse into creativity in the shadow of Soviet communism. From Khrushchev’s mid-1950s cultural “Thaw” to the Prague Spring, the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and its aftermath, Eastern European artists used the printed form to recover their national traditions and critique the totalitarian culture that had eclipsed them. 

Over and above the historical record it presents, this exhibition is a veritable survey of technical mastery by some of the region’s most accomplished printmakers, including Jiří Anderle, Alena Kučerová, Oldřich Kulhánek, and Pravoslav Sovák.

Examples from an accompanying research archive, consisting of 59 rare art books, corresponding monographs, and exhibition catalogues will also be on view. 

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website