Group 42

Group 42 (Czech: Skupina 42) was a Czech artistic group officially established in 1942 (although its roots date to 1938–1939, forming in 1940). The group's activity ceased in 1948, but its influence on Czech literature and Czech art was still evident in further years.

This group was mainly influenced by civilism, cubism, futurism, constructivism, and a bit by surrealism. Their work revealed a characteristic fascination with technology, evident in their frequent focus on cities, factories, industry, and machines. The human characters are generally common townspeople.

The article The World We Live In (Czech Svět, v němž žijeme) by Jindřich Chalupecký provided Group 42's primary theoretical foundation.

Members

Poets

• Ivan Blatný
• Jan Hanč
• Jiřina Hauková
• Josef Kainar
• Jiří Kolář (also a visual artist)

Painters

• František Gross
• František Hudeček
• Jan Kotík
• Kamil Lhoták
• Bohumír Matal
• Jan Smetana
• Karel Souček

Carver

• Ladislav Zívr

Photographer

• Miroslav Hák

Theoreticians

• Jindřich Chalupecký
• Jiří Kotalík

References

• Eva Petrová (ed.) and collective: Skupina 42, Akropolis, Praha 1998, ISBN 80-85770-67-9 (in Czech)
• Zdeněk Pešat, Eva Petrová (ed.): Skupina 42, Atlantis, Brno 2000, ISBN 9788071082095 (in Czech)
• Izabela Mroczek: Dom, ulica, miasto w poezji czeskiej Grupy 42, Śląsk, Katowice-Warszawa, 2005 (Polish)
• Leszek Engelking: Codzienność i mit. Poetyka, programy i historia Grupy 42 w kontekstach dwudziestowiecznej awangardy i postawangardy, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego, Łódź 2005, ISBN 83-7171-826-8 (Polish)

External links

• Avant-gardists – A pair of art rebels step into the mainstream, Naomi Lindt, 8.3.2006, The Prague Post
• Legendární Skupina 42, (Josef Fronc), Zpravodaj 2/2005 (in Czech)
• České diskontinuity, an interview with Jiří Kotalík at the jedinak.cz (in Czech)
• Example photos of book Skupina 42 (in Czech)