František Bílek Centre

Since its reconstruction and reopening in 2010, the basement of Villa Bílek facilitates Bílek Research and Documentation Centre aimed at the professional public. The Centre, headed by an expert curator, collects and processes material concerning the entire oeuvre of František Bílek, encompassing not only his free art but also his other activities, including his two realizations in architecture – Villa Bílek in Prague and Bílekʼs house with his studio in Chýnov near Tábor. The core of the Centreʼs activity is managing the collection of works by Bílek in the property of the Prague City Gallery, which owns the major part of the artistʼs inheritance.

The Centre participates in promoting the collection and preparing and realizing lectures, forums and other events which the Gallery holds for the wider public. Part of the Centre is also František Bílekʼs archive. The archive collection, containing an extensive section of written documents and a section of photography, was subjected to demanding conservation executed during the past several years by the Czech National Archives, where it was deposited after the 2002 floods until recently. The collection is now saved in Villa Bílek, where it offers to professional researchers a considerable number of unique and interesting documents relating to the artistʼs oeuvre and his life.

Villa Bílek – interior, period photo
Villa Bílek – interior, period photo