Vlastislav Hofman papers and drawings, 1904-1984, 1904-1984

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Summary

Creators:
Hofman, Vlastislav, 1884-1964
Abstract:
Vlastislav Hofman (1884-1964), architect, painter, and set and costume designer, was a leading member of the Czech modernist movement, and is perhaps best known for his work in the theater. In a career which spanned approximately forty years he designed sets for nearly 300 productions and worked with many leading Czech dramaturges. The Vlastislav Hofman papers and drawings contains material from several stages in Hofman's career, and include an extensive collection of letters and postcards from prominent figures in the Czech avant-garde movement; business correspondence regarding exhibitions and conferences; several volumes of photographs of set designs, costume designs, and production designs; architectural sketches; and several original drawings of projects in the decorative arts representative of an early period in his career.
Extent:
4.0 linear feet (12 boxes, 2 oversize boxes, 1 flatfile folder, 1 tube)
Language:
Collection material is in Czech.

Background

Scope and content:

The Vlastislav Hofman papers and drawings consists of published articles, letters and postcards, awards, curricula vitae, and material relating to conferences and exhibitions. The photo archive contains biographical photographs and photographs of set designs for the theater, costume designs for film and theater, realized sets and performances, decorative arts designs and paintings. The collection also includes original architectural drawings and decorative arts designs.

Series I. The publications in the collection are offprints from several leading Czech journals, and are concentrated primarily in the 1910s and 1920s when Hofman took an active part in several artistic organizations such as Skupina, Tvrdošíjným, and Umělecká beseda. In the articles, Hofman discusses issues relating to current trends in the visual arts and in the theater.

Series II. contains letters and postcards received by Hofman from prominent figures in the Czech art and theater communities, including the artists Vacláv Špála, Pavel Janák, and Bohumil Kubišta; the dramaturge Josef Kodiček; prominent art critic Václav Štech; and writer Jan Bartoš. Other notable figures represented in this series include Otakar Kubín, Josef Čapek, Stanislav Neumann, and Miroslav Ponc. Miscellaneous business correspondence in the collection provides accounts of the sale of works, honoraria for articles, and membership in Skupina vytvarných Umělců.

The printed matter in Series III. contains extensive biographical information on Hofman. A typescript of a lecture by Adolf Benš, given in Hofman's hometown Jičín two years after Hofman's death, provides details of Hofman's family background and career. The curricula vitae, written by Hofman and others, together with the many small exhibition catalogs provide a comprehensive account of Hofman's artistic activities. A few of the exhibition catalogs have been cataloged separately but are housed in the present collection. The collection holds extensive material dating from Hofman's participation in the 4th Volta Conference, an international theater conference held in Rome in 1936. Critical reviews of Hofman's work in theater which are housed in the collection were taken from numerous journals and cover various stages of his career. There are also many reviews of exhibitions of Hofman's work, held both in Czechoslovakia and in Italy, and articles commemorating Hofman's 50th, 60th, 70th, and 80th birthdays.

Series IV. Photographs cover much of Hofman's career in the theater. There is also an entire volume of costume designs which Hofman created from the film Anna proletářka in 1951.

A small collection of photographs of decorative arts are arranged according to the type of project. The collection contains photographs of both sketches and realized projects representative of Hofman's early career as part of the Cubo-Expressionist movement. A number of the works in Series V are also representative of Hofman's Cubo-expressionism. The oversized and double-oversized works in Series V. comprise original designs in the decorative arts and architecture.

Biographical photographs of Hofman date from various period in his life and are generally arranged chronologically (several are undated). There are a few early photographs circa 1910 which depict Hofman among his avant-garde friends. Several photographs document Hofman's wife Zdenka, their two daughters, and two grandchildren. There are a number of photographs of Hofman taken in the last years of his life and shortly before his death in 1964.

Arrangement

Arranged in five Series: ; ; ; ; .Series I: Published articles and typescriptsSeries II: CorrespondenceSeries III: Printed matter and curricula vitae materialsSeries IV: PhotographsSeries V: Oversized original works, exhibition posters and diplomas

Biographical / historical:

Vlastislav Hofman (1884-1964), was born in Jičín, a small town in northern Bohemia. Hofman's father was a shoemaker and an avid socialist. He was responsible for organizing a social-democratic organization in Jičín and in the surrounding area. Vlastislav Hofman's early exposure to political activity was to later inspire his work in the theater, such as in the designs for the "Husité" and "Svítání." From 1902 to 1907 Hofman attended the Czech Technical University in Prague, where he studied architecture under the direction of Jan Emil Koula and J. Schulz and met fellow artists Pavel Janák and Josef Chochol.

After becoming an architect, Hofman participated in numerous design competitions for public buildings in Prague and other cities. Hofman worked closely with Chochol, Janák, and Josef Gočár in developing a Cubo-Expressionist movement in architecture. Few of Hofman's projects were ever realized, but a handful of innovative designs such as the Prague Dáblice cemetery (1912-1913) gained Hofman notable acclaim for his architectural work. Together with Chochol, Janák, and Josef Gočár and others, the group extended their Cubo-Expressionist ideas to furniture and ceramic design. In other countries, Cubist principles were rarely applied to the decorative arts, in contrast to the highly original and innovative Czech movement. The Prague group is considered one of the most important Cubist centers after Paris, and the Expressionist element of its work has been observed to keenly reflect the agitation and upheaval of the times.

At various points in his career, Hofman was affiliated with several Prague artists' groups and other fundamental institutions in the development of Czech modernism. He was briefly a member of Artěl and early in his career joined Spolek výtvarných umělců Mánes (the Mánes Association of Plastic Artists). In 1911, he was a founding member of the avant-garde group Skupina výtvarných umělců. The group was responsible for several large exhibitions in Prague and published a journal entitled Umělcký měsíčník, edited by Josef Čapek. In 1912, Hofman left the group, along with many of his artistic allies, and returned to Mánes. Among Hofman's closest collaborators of the Czech avant-garde were Josef Čapek, Václav Špála, Emil Filla, Antonín Procházka, Vincenc Beneš, Otto Guttfreund, Chochol, Janák, and Gočár. Hofman designed illustrations for a number of books, among a collection of short stories by Karel Čapek in 1916. The artistic activities of Hofman and his peers were interrupted by World War II, for which many, including Hofman, were called to serve. Upon return from the war, Hofman joined the group Tvrdošíjiným, an early product of newly-independent Czechoslovakia, and exhibited work at their first show in 1918. In 1921, he published a collection of woodcuts entitled Fysiognomie. The publications were numbered and each woodcut is hand-painted in watercolor. (The Getty Research Institute holds copy number 10B).

In the early 1910s, Hofman corresponded frequently with his close friend, the playwright Jan Bartoš, during which time they discussed psychological portraits of characters in the novels of Fyodor Dostoevsky. Both artists claim to have been inspired by Dostoevsky's characters. These drawings brought Hofman's artwork to the attention of the director Karel Hugo Hilar. In 1919, Hofman began his career in the theater with a production of Antonín Dvořák's play "Husité," directed by Hilar. This was the first of a number of historical productions that would occupy Hofman throughout his career. Several of Hofman's other production designs, such as those for William Shakespeare's "Bouře" (The Tempest") in 1920 are distinguished by a characteristic intensity of lighting effects. The Cubist strain of Hofman's work is evident in many of his set designs, among others "Královna Kristýna" (1922). On two separate occasions (1929 and 1939) Hofman created sets for the science fiction play "R.U.R.," written by the foremost Czech writer of the period, Karel Čapek. Altogether, he designed sets and costumes for close to 300 productions and throughout his career worked with several leading Czech dramaturgists, among them Hilar, Vojta Novák, Jan Bor and Karel Dostal.

Hofman was recognized repeatedly for his work in the theater, and received awards for his designs at home and abroad. In 1936 he was invited to Rome with Hilar to take part in a large international theater conference. Many of the most prominent twentieth century playwrights, writers and artists were in attendance, including Luigi Pirandello, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Walter Gropius, William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Filippo Tommaso MarĂ­netti, and Maurice Maeterlinck.

Hofman remained active in the theater until the 1950s. In 1951, he designed a long series of costume designs for the film "Anna proletářka," produced in 1953. Several exhibitions of Hofman's work were organized during the latter part of his career. A large monograph on his theatrical career was published in 1951. Since Hofman's death in 1964 at the age of 80, his work has been featured in several international exhibitions in Germany, Italy, the United States, and in the Czech Republic.

Acquisition information:
A collection of architectural and decorative drawings by Hofman was acquired in 1985 (Accession numbers 850909*, 850909**). In 1990, a large collection of papers, printed matter and photographs was purchased from Hofman's esate (Accession number 900189). The oversized drawings were integrated into the collection of papers soon thereafter.
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Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
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