Nová věcnost v Československu: k východiskům současného výzkumu

Modern realist work in interwar Czechoslovakia has not yet been thoroughly analysed, in contrast to current research on the German and American scenes. In those countries there has been a recent revival of interest in not just the New Objectivity but also modern realism in its wider sense. A project titled New Realisms in the Czechoslovak Art Scene 1918–1945 seeks to fill this gap. This article tries to understand what has led to the current state of affairs and to formulate the boundaries and premises a complex analysis of this subject would be based on. It is conceived as a summary of the starting points from which to proceed to gain insight into the new realisms, one particular example of which is represented by the New Objectivity. It also focuses on the response to the New Objectivity in Czech art history and questions of defining the new realisms in the specific circumstances of interwar Czechoslovakia.