EXPO and the CR

Saint Louis 1904

The architect Jan Kotěra had projects entered in the competition at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900, but was unsuccessful. At the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition in Saint Louis in 1904, he achieved recognition as the chief administrator responsible for overseeing the installation of the art exposition in the Austrian Pavilion. He was set the task of decorating and installing Czech art as part of the Austrian Pavilion. This gave him the opportunity to be part of the contingent that travelled to St Louis, where from 1903 he managed the work on the interior section reserved for an exposition under the patronage of the Academy of Fine Arts. In his work he drew considerable inspiration from folk decoration. Kotěra's designs were drawn up in detail by his associate Emanuel Pelant. The exhibition of Czech art contained 41 works (pictures, etchings, and statues) by Czech artists. These works were spread out over four rooms in the art section of the Austrian Pavilion. The Czech artists took back to Prague five Grand Prix, as well as 19 gold, seven silver, and seven bronze medals awarded by the exposition judges.

Kotěra's eye for artistic craftsmanship is reflected in the design of a glass punch bowl and glasses from 1903, made especially for the exhibition. Dr Aleš Hrdlička, an anthropologist of Czech origin living and working in the USA, considered becoming a candidate for the position of the manager of the exhibition's anthropometric section, and expressed a keen interest in the exposition from the Philippines, which exhibited the members of seven primitive Philippine tribes.

In St Louis, Max Švabinský won a gold medal for his picture titled 'At the Loom', a lithograph with a ground tint from 1903 that had already won a prize from the Vienna-based Graphische Künste. This picture, depicting a weary weaver with her arms dangling, has not been preserved; it was destroyed by the earthquake in San Francisco, where it had been taken by the purchaser.

Jaroslav Halada

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