EXPO and the CR

Barcelona 1929

At the International Exhibition in Barcelona between May 1929 and May 1930, Czechoslovakia did not construct its own pavilion, but took part with an interior exhibition designed by the architect Richard Klenka. The exhibition, sponsored by Ladislav Novák, the Minister of Industry and Trade, was intended to present Czechoslovak export companies. The artistic decoration here comprised large representative canvases: Hradčany by Šetelík and the High Tatras by Otakar Štáfl. In the scope of this presentation, the Hradec Králové company Ant. Petrof Gran won a prize for the patented design of its piano. Another interesting fact is worth mentioning - the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the art director of the German participation at the exhibition in Barcelona, whose pavilion now receives the most praise of any exposition structures from this time as a milestone in the history of architecture, designed the Tugenthat Villa in the Černé pole district of Brno in 1928-30; since 2001, this villa has been an inscribed site in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Jaroslav Halada

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