František Bílek: Journey 2. 7. 2024 – 1. 6. 2026
Curator: Hana Larvová
The ideological/sculptural project The Journey, in which the young artist František Bílek (1872-1941) responded to the inspiration and experience of his study stay in Paris in the early 1890s, is one of the most interesting concepts of his early mystical work, alongside the theme of Christ.
It illustrates Bílek’s distinctive interpretation of Christianity, which opens up a complex space of reflection on the meaning of human existence and its belonging to the eternal cycle of the universe. Inspired by the esoteric and then popular philosophy of Édouard Schuré (Les Grands Initiés), Bílek has translated his own monumental epic of humanity’s earthly spiritual pilgrimage through history in search of salvation. It begins with the primordial fall to the Earth and continues from Meteor, Adam and Eve to the mysterious initiates and the first disciples of Christ. Of the entire cycle, Bílek really made only the statue of Moses (1905) and, many years later, the sculpture of Adam and Eve (1921). Some of the others have remained only in sculptural sketches, the largest of which are Meteor (1903) and Dance around the Golden Calf (1903). The Journey was also published as a set of prints in 1909 and, together with The Building of the Future Temple in Us, published a year earlier, is Bílek’s most important book project of this period.
The building also houses a permanent exhibition presenting the most important of František Bílek’s work and more of his work is available at a permanent exhibition in Chýnov.