Paintings

When the Gallery was founded in 1953, its core collection consisted of works in the possession of the state-owned enterprise Svit (the Baťa company) collected mainly thanks to acquisitions from the Zlín Salons held between 1936 and 1948. Since the mid-1950s the Gallery has systematically expanded its collections focusing on Czech and Slovak art of the 19th and 20th centuries. The painting collection’s specific character comes from works by significant artists of all generations having some connection to the Zlín region, and which are organised in relevant contexts in the development of Czech modern art. The most important part of the collection is made up of paintings documenting the evolution of Czech modern art, represented mainly by works of the interwar avant-garde movement – dating from the beginning of the century and also spanning to the subsequent period. The collection comprises key works by representatives of the landscape painting school of Julius Mařák, works created in the historical epoch after the establishment of Osma (The Eight), cubist works, neoclassicism of 1920s, works by artists associated in the Umělecká beseda (Artists’ Union), surrealism, as well as anti-war works created in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Works by members of Skupina 42 (Group 42) also form an important part of the collection. In the context of the second half of the 20th century, mainly works by representatives of the Czech Art Informel of the 1960s, as well as works from the past three decades stand out in the collection.

See the most interesting pictures from our collections in the gallery of images on the Czech version of this page.