Ladislav Beneš | The Body in Motion
18/10/24–27/04/25

Ladislav Beneš (1883–1956) was one of the leading representatives of Czech neoclassicism in the first half of the 20th century. His works are a sophisticated synthesis of modernist and traditional elements. They reflect the fascination with speed, movement and technological progress that was typical for the interwar era. Automobiles, motorcycles and aeroplanes had become symbols of a new and dynamic world, and Beneš, as a member of the emerging generation of sculptors, was aware of these changes. Alongside his colleague Jan Štursa, with whom he shared a passion for the art of Auguste Rodin, he went in search of a new artistic style centred around the human figure that would also reflect this fascination with movement.

Beneš was also a passionate dancer who spent many evenings dancing at Prague’s Montmartre cabaret. Translating the rhythm and dynamism that he found there into his art, he imbued his nudes, in particular female nudes, with a sense of motion. Visual depictions of women in their full beauty and strength were part of a broader trend at the time. This trend can also be found in the work of Beneš’s contemporaries, and it was similarly popular in catalogues for companies such as the Krásná jizba home furnishings company (a subsidiary of the Družstevní práce design-oriented publishing house), thanks to which it spread to the general public.

The exhibition offers a unique look at Beneš’s work through his sculptures, drawings and photographs whose subject is the nude. The exhibited works come from the collection of the Gallery of Modern Art in Hradec Králové and the Museum and Gallery of the Orlické Mountains in Rychnov nad Kněžnou.

LADISLAV BENEŠ (1883 Prague – 1956 Častolovice) – sculptor; creator of numerous decorative sculptures for building interiors and exteriors. In 1923, the Czechoslovak Autoclub adopted one of his sculptures as its main prize. Beneš attended Prague’s School of Applied Arts in 1897–1904, studying under professors Celda Klouček and Stanislav Sucharda. During this time, he earned money by working as a stucco artist, and this practical experience provided him with the technical dexterity and sense for detail that would become characteristic of his later work.

After graduation, Beneš became an active member of Prague’s art scene and was accepted to Umělecká beseda in 1911. The promising development of his personal and professional life was interrupted by the First World War. He was called up in 1916 and assigned to a unit in Salzburg, where he made the acquaintance of the painter Antonín Hudeček. Later, in 1930, he decided to leave Prague and join Hudeček in the east Bohemian town of Častolovice. This decision, however, inadvertently condemned him and his work to partial oblivion. What is more, towards the end of his life he was sentenced to seven years in prison as a collaborator for having painted a portrait of the Protectorate-era president Emil Hácha. Beneš lived out the rest of his life in Častolovice, and after his death his extensive artistic estate was acquired by the Museum and Gallery of the Orlické Mountains in Rychnov nad Kněžnou.