Women Sculptors

The exhibition and publication project entitled "Sochárky"(Women Sculptors) maps the existence and fate of female sculptors who underwent classical sculpting training (secondary schools, academies) in former Czechoslovakia.

Sculpting, as opposed to the art of painting, was particularly the domain of male sculptors; this situation radically changed in the 19th and 20th centuries when distinctive women sculptors entered the scene and contributed to and extended the field of sculpting by their use of specific themes and techniques and their perception of sculpting itself. Sculpting conjures images of difficult and physically demanding work that women cannot handle, but in the 19th century when women entered the scene, they forced others to reconsider such physical, gender, artistic and social prejudices. However, despite their presence, the world of women sculptors is an unknown territory filled with unfamiliar names and unknown works of art. This is borne out by the fact that most people would be hard pressed to name a female sculptor.

This exhibition however, names names and describes the approaches and specific characteristics of the female element in modern sculpting; it will also shed light on several forgotten women sculptors (J. Horová, D. Rosůlková, M. Durasová, A. Čereyová, H. Wichterlová, A. Ferdinandy, M. Bartoňková - Drábková), as well as internationally recognized artists (M. Bartuszová, E. Kmentová, V. Janoušková).