Kolektoři 4 – Richard Adam
Richard Adam (* 14. listopadu 1930, Praze) je český zpěvák, jedna z někdejších velkých hvězd českého swingu 50. let 20. století, bratranec české herečky Jaroslavy Adamové. Největší slávy a popularity dosáhl na přelomu 50. a 60. let 20. století. Uplatnil se velmi dobře i v zahraniční, značně populární byl i v bývalém NDR a v někdejším Sovětském svazu. S nástupem normalizace po roce 1968 se i u něj dostavila vlna zákazů, ústrků a politických perzekucí. Na svém kontě má přibližně 330 nahraných písnÍ, z čehož 250 jich bylo pro Československý rozhlas a 80 pro vydavatelský koncern Supraphon. Jeho vůbec nejúspěšní písní se stala píseň Tina Marie, které se na gramofonových deskách jen v SSSR prodalo přes jeden milión kusů.
Zdroj: cs.wikipedia.org
Nebo přejdi na http://www.ragallery.cz/richard-adam
- Mr Adam, you were born in Znojmo in 195300:00:22.025
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- and attended painting classes up to the age of fifteen.00:00:26.420
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- Your art teacher Jan Zelený introduced you to the history of art.00:00:28.575
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- You graduated from the Faculty of Law at Charles University in Prague00:00:33.501
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- and in 1977 you obtained your first piece of art from00:00:37.168
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- Dr Dráždil's collection as a graduation gift.00:00:41.213
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- In 1984 you bought the first painting by Ivan Ouhel00:00:46.065
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- and in November 1992 you met the painter Antonín Střížek00:00:51.653
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- and your interest in the00:00:57.838
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- Until 2005 you had your collection deposited in your flat in Prague00:01:02.613
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- and in 2006 you opened together with the businessman Miroslav Lekeš00:01:08.373
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- a gallery in Brno called Wannieck Gallery,00:01:14.206
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- today Richard Adam Gallery you are the art director of.00:01:16.279
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- When speaking about your collector's passion origin,00:01:19.892
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- there's a story speaking about a doctor who brought you into the world.00:01:23.803
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- He collected art and you got your first piece of art from his collection.00:01:33.275
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- I would like to know how was your interest00:01:40.519
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- in contemporary art of the 1980s shaped00:01:44.086
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- and when you started to consider yourself to be a collector.00:01:48.434
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- It wasn't easy to be well versed in contemporary art in the 1980s00:01:56.175
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- because in the first half of the 1980s00:02:00.636
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- the quality art was not exhibited at all.00:02:02.704
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- In the second half it used to be exhibited only outside Prague.00:02:05.886
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- I went to see Ivan Ouhel's exhibition to Roudnice nad Labem00:02:10.717
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- as he didn't have any exhibitions in Prague.00:02:14.310
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- Only in 1987 there was the first exhibition of00:02:16.530
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- the art group Tvrdohlaví in Lidový dům in Vysočany.00:02:22.175
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- I went to the exhibition and I was absolutely shocked at00:02:26.798
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- what nonsense they painted and created.00:02:30.521
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- My relation to art used to be the same as anyone else's00:02:33.984
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- who came first to an exhibition.00:02:37.936
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- I hadn't seen any post-modern before.00:02:40.229
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- Of course I knew Ouhel, Sozanský, Novák or Rittstein00:02:43.239
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- whose work I didn't like very much.00:02:49.167
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- However I didn't know the coming generation of the 1980s00:02:51.962
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- and I was shocked and thought they deliberately couldn't paint.00:02:58.005
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- I went to the man selling the tickets for one crown00:03:03.977
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- and asked him about the paintings' prices.00:03:10.726
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- He told me the painters had wanted about 15 000,- for each00:03:14.456
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- and I was so shocked as I knew I could normally buy00:03:17.690
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- two Ouhel's paintings for such price.00:03:22.503
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- But he said the painters had determined the price.00:03:25.036
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- So I went home and told myself I would never00:03:27.138
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- collect such art as it was absolutely crazy.00:03:29.451
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- Ten or twelve years later Jiří David told me00:03:34.556
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- they had been kidding about the price and00:03:38.489
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- that he had sold his first painting00:03:42.176
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- as an installment sale for one thousand crowns.00:03:44.745
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- That painting was at the exhibition too and00:03:47.328
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- I would have bought it if I had known it.00:03:49.143
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- Nevertheless I had not.00:03:52.096
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- Then I was trying to come closer to modern art and00:03:54.536
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- Tvrdohlaví had an exhibition in ÚLUV where I went as well.00:04:00.165
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- But I still couldn't understand why they painted such things.00:04:06.942
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- As the situation was becoming eased I would00:04:09.352
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- go to exhibitions organized by Mladá Fronta Gallery00:04:12.160
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- in Spálená street and there I saw such an awful painting.00:04:17.546
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- It was two pairs of shoes and it was so horrible,00:04:23.867
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- the painter didn't know how to paint it,00:04:27.745
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- I couldn't believe he displayed such thing.00:04:30.071
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- Today the painting is in the Prague City Gallery00:04:34.582
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- and I envy them very much.00:04:37.749
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- It was painted by Střížek.00:04:39.634
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- I found it totally absurd back then.00:04:41.319
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- Then I went to Tomáš Císařovský exhibition again00:04:44.490
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- in 1991 in Špálova Gallery and I told myself that was00:04:48.187
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- the last straw and I gave up.00:04:52.281
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- But in 1992 I went to the Litera Gallery in Karlín00:04:57.100
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- to choose some mono types and collages by Jiří Sozanský.00:05:02.769
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- He was a painter of the 1970 generation I found very close.00:05:07.268
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- A young boy came to me and told me he was an artist too00:05:14.562
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- and that I certainly didn't know him.00:05:20.365
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- I asked him about his name and he said he was Antonín Střížek.00:05:24.052
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- And I said: "Of course I know you, the Shoes!"00:05:28.761
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- And he was very pleased I knew the Shoes.00:05:32.206
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- Of course I didn't tell him I found the painting silly.00:05:36.750
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- He invited me to his studio and that was the turning point.00:05:39.779
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- There I suddenly realized Střížek could paint and00:05:44.885
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- as he was showing me his numerous paintings and drawings00:05:50.564
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- I suddenly understood they were beautifully painted.00:05:57.784
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- I realized it was beautiful art and my rejecting attitude00:06:01.525
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- was not caused by the art but by my incomprehension.00:06:08.303
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- That was the first meeting and then00:06:12.676
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- I bought his drawing for one thousand crowns.00:06:14.678
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- I asked him who would he recommend00:06:20.686
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- from his generation and he suggested00:06:22.871
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- Honza Merta whom I didn't know.00:06:24.950
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- He told me to go the MXM Gallery to meet him.00:06:27.258
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- So I went to the MXM Gallery and met Honza Merta.00:06:32.710
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- You were evidently persistent in your interest although00:06:37.906
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- you didn't go along with the work of Tvrdohlaví...00:06:42.762
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- Frankly, I was shocked...00:06:49.073
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- However something was driving you to carry on with your interest in art.00:06:50.918
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- You said personal meetings had played a certain role.00:06:59.129
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- I'd like to know what importance you assign to the personal meetings,00:07:04.387
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- how important you find visiting artists in their studios00:07:10.943
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- and how you select the particular work of art.00:07:16.741
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- Is it at first sight or do you need some time00:07:20.856
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- to get to know the artist and his work?00:07:25.257
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- I would meet the artists mainly in pubs.00:07:30.453
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- I paid for them in the pubs and00:07:35.186
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- they would give me their drawings in return.00:07:37.725
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- However my collector's passion has developed the most00:07:49.263
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- in August 30th 1995 when I went to the MXM Gallery00:07:56.520
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- to see an exhibition of Petr Písařík.00:08:02.982
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- Before going there I called Marek Pokorný to Mladá Fronta00:08:07.627
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- to ask if it's worth going there and he00:08:10.626
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- told me I should go, so I went there and00:08:14.572
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- took a bottle of Adamovka with me.00:08:17.668
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- They called Adamovka a plum brandy I would always bring to the MXM Gallery.00:08:20.127
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- Possibly a litre of apricot or pear brandy.00:08:24.314
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- And I will tell you about my first meeting00:08:28.606
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- with Petr Písařík as it's quite significant.00:08:32.421
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- In the office there was a young bearded guy in sunglasses00:08:37.509
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- and I came in, put the bottle on the table00:08:42.741
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- he looked at me and said:00:08:45.709
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- "I know it's none of my business but you should wear better clothes sir."00:08:48.061
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- I asked him who he was and he said he was Petr Písařík00:08:53.836
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- and that he would show me round the exhibition.00:08:56.781
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- We came to the first painting and he said it was Armani.00:09:01.125
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- And I said: Armani? Is it an Italian footballer?00:09:04.367
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- And he asked me: You don't know Armani?00:09:08.283
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- And I said I didn't.00:09:10.863
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- "Well, okay, but you must know Calvin Klein," he said.00:09:12.329
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- And I said: Calvin Klein? Well I know the architect00:09:16.692
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- Oscar Niemeyer but who is Calvin Klein?"00:09:21.406
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- And Písařík started to run around the MXM Gallery crying:00:09:24.126
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- "I will never sell any of my paintings to a man who doesn't know Calvin Klein!"00:09:28.453
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- Of course after drinking the bottle of plum brandy together00:09:36.269
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- I bought the Calvin Klein.00:09:39.954
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- The painting, not him of course.00:09:42.273
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- So this meeting was crucial as for00:09:49.884
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- my acquisitions of the 1990s generation.00:09:52.279
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- Then I reserved some work by Vosecký and Pastrňák but finally00:09:58.866
- 00:09:58.866
- I didn't buy anything because it was too expensive for me.00:10:03.058
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- However I always liked meeting painters in pubs.00:10:07.558
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- For example the first painting by Jiří Černický...00:10:14.748
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- I saw him for the first time in 1997 at the Academy of Fine Arts00:10:18.543
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- and I liked his work very much.00:10:23.227
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- It was these yellow paintings.00:10:25.474
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- We arranged a meeting and he was waiting at a tram stop,00:10:27.632
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- we introduced to each other and he said we would go to his studio.00:10:33.416
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- And I said it was needless and that we would go to a wine bar.00:10:38.822
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- He had photos of his paintings with him so I selected them from the pictures.00:10:42.448
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- Which is horrible of course!00:10:45.890
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- But we drank a bottle of wine or two and we had a very nice time.00:10:49.032
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- But this is not my way of selecting paintings of course.00:10:54.725
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- You have to see the paintings.00:10:59.526
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- It can't be replaced by a computer.00:11:01.533
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- There were no computers at that time anyway.00:11:05.406
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- You need to have a direct contact with the piece.00:11:07.729
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- When selecting drawings, they shouldn't be under glass.00:11:11.453
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- Thereby you lose the direct contact with the drawing.00:11:15.414
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- I chose paintings very simply.00:11:21.966
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- I look at them for the first time,00:11:25.294
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- my brain absorbs the information the painting gives out,00:11:27.845
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- but it still doesn't evaluate anything.00:11:36.628
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- Then I have to look for the second time,00:11:39.517
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- about five minutes later and I make my final decision.00:11:41.827
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- As well as at exhibitions, I have to see it twice.00:11:45.734
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- Then my opinion is firm, I don't change it and I stand for it.00:11:52.602
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- Your collection was presented for the first time at a public exhibition in 2004.00:12:02.564
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- At the same time you met the businessman Miroslav Lekeš.00:12:08.842
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- Why is public presentation of the collection so important00:12:13.187
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- for you and how does the co-operation within00:12:17.948
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- Wannieck Gallery or Richard Adam Gallery work?00:12:21.690
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- Well, as for the public presentation...00:12:28.271
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- In my collection I gathered a selection00:12:33.446
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- of the best work of the 1980s generation,00:12:37.164
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- the whole 1990s generation, although the conceptualists00:12:41.671
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- Jan Nálevka or Jaromír Novotný are missing there,00:12:45.629
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- there is also majority of the 2000s generation.00:12:50.384
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- My desire was to open the collection to public.00:12:54.886
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- To show what the painters have achieved, not me.00:13:01.537
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- The collection could have been selected00:13:06.844
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- and completed by anybody else.00:13:10.211
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- I wanted to present the results of creative activity00:13:14.297
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- of not only Czech artists to public.00:13:19.715
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- It's rather a need for art work presentation.00:13:26.517
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- As for the co-operation, do you mean my co-operation with Mr Lekeš?00:13:32.513
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- -Yes.00:13:36.537
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- When we met in 2004 I said I would love to00:13:38.105
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- collect art with bigger financial possibilities.00:13:44.325
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- Although my financial possibilities were limited,00:13:53.313
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- the painters were always very helpful and00:13:56.500
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- apart from the fact they drank Adamovka,00:14:01.692
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- they would offer Adam-friendly prices00:14:03.324
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- and these prices were completely different.00:14:05.818
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- Well, it's hard to judge the prices when there were00:14:08.744
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- no other prices apart from the Adam-friendly ones.00:14:11.788
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- Because nobody else was buying it.00:14:15.060
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- So I was happy to supplement and extend my collection which had about00:14:17.845
- 00:14:17.845
- 00:14:27.451
- drawings at that time.00:14:27.451
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- I told him I would like to have a free hand in selecting artists,00:14:37.045
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- and their works which he agreed with.00:14:41.684
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- So I was selecting in my opinion the most interesting artworks.00:14:46.584
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- The collectors Šoltés, Herout, Dvořák and Babíček who collected00:14:53.910
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- the 1980s generation didn't carry on to collect the 1990s generation.00:15:00.509
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- At that time nobody collected the 1990s generation00:15:10.698
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- as new collectors came only after year 2000.00:15:15.268
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- So I appeared in the middle of a field ploughed by painters00:15:21.602
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- as the only one collector and I could choose anything.00:15:27.763
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- I dare say without any doubt that00:15:33.747
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- the collection embodies everything significant created00:15:37.574
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- between 1995 and00:15:41.930
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- 00:15:41.930
- Of course later another collectors appeared00:15:50.373
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- from who we borrowed about fifteen paintings for the current exhibition.00:15:53.124
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- But I have to say the cooperation with Mr Lekeš is very good.00:16:02.549
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- We can call you the heart of the collection and00:16:13.764
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- in charge of acquisitions and Mr Lekeš is your financial partner.00:16:17.103
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- Yes, but his and his wife's relation to art is very positive00:16:32.195
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- and I even dare say he understands it.00:16:39.472
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- We have already spoken about your interest and contact00:16:42.593
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- with artists who started in the 1980s and 1990s.00:16:45.913
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- The collection of that period is really representative00:16:50.987
- 00:16:50.987
- and very significant in the Czech context.00:16:59.727
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- Are you interested in the00:17:03.463
- 00:17:03.463
- 00:17:03.463
- and do you follow their current work?00:17:07.856
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- I do, but I don't buy them any more.00:17:11.498
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- I have always had a tendency to collect authors from the youngest00:17:14.891
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- generation, students or fresh graduates.00:17:18.337
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- I don't even collect much from the 2000 generation,00:17:22.468
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- although there are few artists whose work I have to add to the collection.00:17:27.411
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- But this collection is completed to a certain extent.00:17:31.637
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- Currently I occasionally focus on the 2010 generation.00:17:36.552
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- But the generations are being shaped in the middle of the decade,00:17:44.206
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- the 1990s generation presented themselves for the first time at00:17:50.566
- 00:17:50.566
- the exhibition Test Run in 1995 and at the Czech Abstraction.00:17:55.504
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- The same goes for the 2000 generation.00:18:03.988
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- Which means the 2010 generation has still one year.00:18:06.988
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- I follow the work of students or fresh graduates and select.00:18:10.260
- 00:18:10.260
- As for the concern with the youngest generation,00:18:17.119
- 00:18:17.119
- you never know whether the student00:18:22.752
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- is going to carry on with painting.00:18:28.162
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- My interest affected them rather retrospectively.00:18:32.136
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- I guess they wanted to sell me another piece as they had already sold me one,00:18:36.574
- 00:18:36.574
- and may have tried to paint it better00:18:40.922
- 00:18:40.922
- or maybe they just told themselves:00:18:42.683
- 00:18:42.683
- "What an idiot, he's coming again."00:18:45.305
- 00:18:45.305
- So me as the idiot came again and he tried his best00:18:48.632
- 00:18:48.632
- and went on painting and created new things,00:18:53.455
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- because without the collector's interest00:18:58.245
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- he may have quitted and ended up in advertising.00:19:01.187
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- So it's really very important.00:19:07.288
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- I assume I can tell who is talented and who is not.00:19:10.624
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- I don't go to anyone who is not talented.00:19:17.933
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- These people can end up in advertising00:19:20.504
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- and they will never achieve anything.00:19:22.509
- 00:19:22.509
- I my opinion, schools might be interesting but they make no odds.00:19:25.709
- 00:19:25.709
- Take Skrepl and Kovanda for example.00:19:32.784
- 00:19:32.784
- Kovanda is an apprenticed mason howbeit his wife00:19:36.859
- 00:19:36.859
- always added he had passed A levels.00:19:40.787
- 00:19:40.787
- Skrepl studied philosophy. He never attended any art school.00:19:43.690
- 00:19:43.690
- Important is to be talented, to break through and to create.00:19:49.008
- 00:19:49.008
- Talent is just a particular part of an individuality,00:19:56.437
- 00:19:56.437
- but essential is diligence and not to give it up after the first failure.00:20:00.493
- 00:20:00.493
- You have to overcome obstacles and try hard.00:20:10.129
- 00:20:10.129
- With all this you can become an outstanding artist00:20:14.293
- 00:20:14.293
- whether you have art schools or not.00:20:20.941
- 00:20:20.941
- However art schools are important for young artists in this country,00:20:23.486
- 00:20:23.486
- because it's hard to sell however great the work is.00:20:30.064
- 00:20:30.064
- Most collectors are not able to tell the quality.00:20:36.287
- 00:20:36.287
- The university degree is determining for most of them.00:20:45.549
- 00:20:45.549
- In this respect it is important to have degree but00:20:52.230
- 00:20:52.230
- from the quality point of view it doesn't matter.00:20:57.946
- 00:20:57.946
- You pointed out it was very important to be00:21:05.034
- 00:21:05.034
- in a continual contact with young art and current art platform.00:21:08.338
- 00:21:08.338
- But when we look at the portfolio or the list of authors' names on your00:21:17.502
- 00:21:17.502
- website Richard Adam Gallery, the youngest generation is represented00:21:21.480
- 00:21:21.480
- by the ones who are already over thirty,00:21:27.853
- 00:21:27.853
- for example Jakub and Anežka Hoškovi, Vasil Artamonov, Jan Vytiska.00:21:31.568
- 00:21:31.568
- I would like to know who from the fresh graduates has appealed to you recently00:21:39.925
- 00:21:39.925
- and if you really go to see the final exam presentations or00:21:49.709
- 00:21:49.709
- the Critics' Choice Awards for young painters.00:21:57.176
- 00:21:57.176
- How do you explore the youngest generation?00:22:01.130
- 00:22:01.130
- Well, it's quite simple.00:22:06.115
- 00:22:06.115
- First of all I know all the professors teaching them.00:22:08.899
- 00:22:08.899
- I usually ask Vladimír Skrepl if he has accepted anybody interesting and00:22:12.363
- 00:22:12.363
- he usually gives me a tip. That's one thing.00:22:17.132
- 00:22:17.132
- But of course I go to final exam presentations00:22:22.504
- 00:22:22.504
- and studios at the Academy.00:22:28.293
- 00:22:28.293
- Luděk Rathouský often tells me if there is somebody interesting,00:22:33.057
- 00:22:33.057
- for example Marika Volfová, I showed her drawings to Mr Ther.00:22:38.504
- 00:22:38.504
- So I try to establish the contacts at academy or shortly after graduation.00:22:46.031
- 00:22:46.031
- Of course I go to final exams and diploma work exhibitions and so on.00:22:56.251
- 00:22:56.251
- Until 2006 I was in Prague and I could often go to artists' studios,00:23:05.593
- 00:23:05.593
- but now I am mainly in Brno and when I come to Prague,00:23:16.447
- 00:23:16.447
- I have absolutely no time for exhibitions,00:23:20.538
- 00:23:20.538
- I run around studios I need to visit and00:23:23.285
- 00:23:23.285
- it's not easy. I have to admit I am losing the contact.00:23:31.876
- 00:23:31.876
- In Brno I am in touch with students studying00:23:41.450
- 00:23:41.450
- under Kvíčala, Stratil or Rathouský00:23:45.430
- 00:23:45.430
- but I am losing contact with Prague.00:23:48.596
- 00:23:48.596
- I try very hard to catch up with my interest in young painters00:23:52.206
- 00:23:52.206
- but as for the videos and objects I have no chance.00:24:04.887
- 00:24:04.887
- When did you start collecting and following the Central European art?00:24:12.603
- 00:24:12.603
- Well I wouldn't call it Central European as a whole as00:24:20.082
- 00:24:20.082
- we have never got to Hungarian or Austrian art.00:24:24.186
- 00:24:24.186
- Although I went with Pavel Hájek to visit Thomas Zipp or00:24:31.484
- 00:24:31.484
- Andrea Lehmann, an interesting conceptualist,00:24:37.241
- 00:24:37.241
- took us to her friends artists,00:24:44.170
- 00:24:44.170
- it all fell through in the end unfortunately.00:24:46.868
- 00:24:46.868
- We used to collect Slovak and German paintings.00:24:52.826
- 00:24:52.826
- From the Slovakian art we gathered a selection of the most interesting work,00:24:59.747
- 00:24:59.747
- we picked about sixty paintings there,00:25:06.997
- 00:25:06.997
- it sounds as if we found them in the street but of course we went to studios.00:25:09.028
- 00:25:09.028
- In Autumn 2008 I reserved another paintings but in the end00:25:19.152
- 00:25:19.152
- we didn't buy them, because the crisis which affected America00:25:24.728
- 00:25:24.728
- and the whole world had an impact here as well.00:25:29.334
- 00:25:29.334
- So the Slovakian art we have is interesting but not complex.00:25:35.414
- 00:25:35.414
- Ruda Sikora invited me to come and select from00:25:43.205
- 00:25:43.205
- his early work from the00:25:50.059
- 00:25:50.059
- 00:25:50.059
- Or Laco Teren told me he still had some work from the 1980s00:25:56.234
- 00:25:56.234
- I could choose from, but I didn't make it as well.00:26:01.957
- 00:26:01.957
- So the Slovakian collection is completed from three quarters.00:26:08.173
- 00:26:08.173
- And after 2009 we didn't buy anything.00:26:15.213
- 00:26:15.213
- As for the German art, I have to pay compliments to00:26:19.433
- 00:26:19.433
- the famous gallerist and collector from Brno Karel Tutsch.00:26:23.545
- 00:26:23.545
- After 1989 he discovered interesting Berlin artists.00:26:29.162
- 00:26:29.162
- And not only from Berlin.00:26:42.695
- 00:26:42.695
- Then he organized an exhibition in the Brno House of Arts where00:26:46.334
- 00:26:46.334
- he presented Butzer, Selg, Helbig, Heinzmann, Tomas Zipp and others.00:26:50.407
- 00:26:50.407
- It was a very representative exhibition.00:26:59.450
- 00:26:59.450
- He would often organize their exhibitions at his gallery Na Bidýlku.00:27:02.434
- 00:27:02.434
- Adrew Gilbert had one as well.00:27:06.250
- 00:27:06.250
- In fact I continued in his contacts.00:27:10.005
- 00:27:10.005
- In 2006 we went to Berlin with Pavel Hájek and the gallerist Petr Novotný,00:27:17.232
- 00:27:17.232
- we stayed overnight at Markus Selg and00:27:24.485
- 00:27:24.485
- he took us to Baudach, but as it was in August,00:27:29.565
- 00:27:29.565
- he was closed so I told myself it had no sense but00:27:33.311
- 00:27:33.311
- after considering it further I went to Mr Lekeš00:27:38.483
- 00:27:38.483
- and told him we should buy some German artists' work.00:27:44.221
- 00:27:44.221
- And he said: "Ok, let's go there."00:27:49.805
- 00:27:49.805
- So we went there and Baudach took us to all the artists except00:27:51.869
- 00:27:51.869
- for Jonathan Meese he didn't have in portfolio,00:27:57.363
- 00:27:57.363
- he was in contemporary fine art.00:28:00.880
- 00:28:00.880
- We bought the best from the middle generation.00:28:03.885
- 00:28:03.885
- I also reserved a painting at André Butzer and when00:28:15.360
- 00:28:15.360
- I came with Mr Lekeš, he told me he had bad news00:28:24.449
- 00:28:24.449
- because Saatchi had bought the painting.00:28:30.971
- 00:28:30.971
- And I said: "Saatchi? Where did he buy it?"00:28:35.127
- 00:28:35.127
- And he said he had bought it in Russia.00:28:37.101
- 00:28:37.101
- I was surprised Saatchi was buying art in Russia.00:28:39.205
- 00:28:39.205
- And he said there was a prestigious gallery in Moscow00:28:41.758
- 00:28:41.758
- where Saatchi was buying paintings.00:28:43.925
- 00:28:43.925
- But he said it didn't matter and that we would give me a better one.00:28:46.401
- 00:28:46.401
- And he really gave me a better one.00:28:50.526
- 00:28:50.526
- So I have a better painting than Saatchi,00:28:53.366
- 00:28:53.366
- but on the other hand he has more of them.00:28:55.441
- 00:28:55.441
- We have just about ten including the drawing over there.00:28:57.494
- 00:28:57.494
- But after 2008 we didn't buy anything,00:29:01.597
- 00:29:01.597
- although I had arranged with Contemporary fine arts to00:29:05.485
- 00:29:05.485
- buy Jonathan Meese or Thomas Zipp,00:29:09.144
- 00:29:09.144
- or Andreas Hofer, we just couldn't make it.00:29:12.486
- 00:29:12.486
- But we have about sixty German works.00:29:17.085
- 00:29:17.085
- It was in the times when the gallery wasn't so often rented,00:29:22.611
- 00:29:22.611
- so we could also buy sculptures.00:29:26.904
- 00:29:26.904
- We have got two big sculptures by Marcus Selg00:29:30.440
- 00:29:30.440
- and many sculptures by Thomas Helbig.00:29:34.046
- 00:29:34.046
- But then we stopped buying sculptures as well, because we00:29:38.692
- 00:29:38.692
- have to pay monthly rent for the gallery.00:29:43.737
- 00:29:43.737
- It belongs to the City of Brno and00:29:49.806
- 00:29:49.806
- everybody thinks we pay just one crown00:29:52.231
- 00:29:52.231
- and I always say: "No, we pay 150 000 times more."00:29:54.487
- 00:29:54.487
- And they say: "You can't be serious!"00:29:58.450
- 00:29:58.450
- And I reply: "Well, unfortunately, I am."00:30:03.946
- 00:30:03.946
- To keep the gallery going and to bear all the costs,00:30:07.363
- 00:30:07.363
- because heating and water is very expensive00:30:11.809
- 00:30:11.809
- in such huge space, we have to lease it.00:30:15.652
- 00:30:15.652
- And whenever we rent the gallery to get money for its operation,00:30:28.087
- 00:30:28.087
- we have to move everything out.00:30:37.158
- 00:30:37.158
- And when you move Markus Selg's sculptures for lets say fifth time,00:30:39.697
- 00:30:39.697
- they start to crumble because they are made from plaster.00:30:50.189
- 00:30:50.189
- We bought interesting Czech objects by Písařík or Hlavina,00:30:55.279
- 00:30:55.279
- but then we gave it up,00:31:01.878
- 00:31:01.878
- because firstly we don't have space as our depositories are very small00:31:05.781
- 00:31:05.781
- but the main reason is we can't run the risk the sculptures will fall apart00:31:10.019
- 00:31:10.019
- after moving them for so many times.00:31:15.077
- 00:31:15.077
- So until 2009 we collected the central European art,00:31:19.953
- 00:31:19.953
- German and Slovakian art and then we stopped.00:31:25.109
- 00:31:25.109
- You are interested mainly in paintings and works on paper,00:31:32.818
- 00:31:32.818
- but you've also mentioned purchasing sculptures.00:31:38.770
- 00:31:38.770
- Have you ever considered expanding your interest onto photographs or video art,00:31:42.811
- 00:31:42.811
- new media which is not so problematic to deposit unlike the sculptures?00:31:49.677
- 00:31:49.677
- I would also like to know what potential do you currently00:32:02.725
- 00:32:02.725
- see in painting with respect to its further development?00:32:07.347
- 00:32:07.347
- I will start with the painting. It's very simple.00:32:16.767
- 00:32:16.767
- There are no common tendencies in contemporary painting any more.00:32:26.725
- 00:32:26.725
- For the last time it was with the 1980s generation00:32:30.579
- 00:32:30.579
- when the post-modern attitude predominated.00:32:34.380
- 00:32:34.380
- Then it started to disperse until it disappeared completely.00:32:38.175
- 00:32:38.175
- The potential is the only criterion which stands.00:32:44.091
- 00:32:44.091
- If the painting is good or bad.00:32:50.721
- 00:32:50.721
- No matter if it's hyper-realism, which I really hate...00:32:53.295
- 00:32:53.295
- Once I went to Rudolfinum to see English hyper-realist painters00:32:58.305
- 00:32:58.305
- and I ran away in disgust.00:33:05.530
- 00:33:05.530
- And this happens to me rarely.00:33:10.065
- 00:33:10.065
- I usually walk round the exhibition one more time and find it interesting.00:33:11.886
- 00:33:11.886
- But there it was different, I didn't even like Chapman's00:33:15.570
- 00:33:15.570
- or Brown's work and I wondered why they painted so hyper-realistically.00:33:18.940
- 00:33:18.940
- They can paint perfectly but there is nothing more beyond.00:33:24.566
- 00:33:24.566
- Well, I guess paintings will be always assessed by their quality.00:33:34.686
- 00:33:34.686
- And the art tendencies are provided additionally by critics.00:33:47.645
- 00:33:47.645
- Because when painters paint they don't know00:33:52.738
- 00:33:52.738
- what they are painting and thereby they create00:33:55.879
- 00:33:55.879
- interesting things. The principle is still the same.00:33:59.394
- 00:33:59.394
- As for the...00:34:07.747
- 00:34:07.747
- What did you ask me about?00:34:11.546
- 00:34:11.546
- About the new media.00:34:13.685
- 00:34:13.685
- Well, as for the new media, it's a fundamental issue.00:34:16.190
- 00:34:16.190
- But back to the photography.00:34:21.849
- 00:34:21.849
- Mr Lekeš has got a collection of photographs,00:34:26.929
- 00:34:26.929
- numbering about two thousand photographs.00:34:29.234
- 00:34:29.234
- We used to go to Birgus for advice00:34:31.964
- 00:34:31.964
- and he would say there were00:34:38.501
- 00:34:38.501
- two big collections of photographs - PPF and Lekeš.00:34:40.569
- 00:34:40.569
- However I think it would meaningful to collect00:34:44.914
- 00:34:44.914
- Jasanský, Polák, Othová, Kocmanová, Bromová00:34:50.621
- 00:34:50.621
- but also Nikl, Vosecký and so on,00:34:56.755
- 00:34:56.755
- but I guess it could wait because the paintings are more important.00:35:01.147
- 00:35:01.147
- Photographs can be made in four or five copies00:35:06.220
- 00:35:06.220
- whereas the painting is just one original.00:35:09.644
- 00:35:09.644
- So I have put it off a bit but I still have it in reserve,00:35:13.310
- 00:35:13.310
- but the problem is lack of money.00:35:18.083
- 00:35:18.083
- In fact I saw just one interesting exhibition of Czech photography00:35:30.192
- 00:35:30.192
- in Rudolfinum about three or four years ago.00:35:35.240
- 00:35:35.240
- I wondered why Vančát displayed00:35:38.782
- 00:35:38.782
- Střížek's painting and not a photograph,00:35:41.003
- 00:35:41.003
- but he doesn't like his photographs and00:35:43.854
- 00:35:43.854
- they were destroyed during floods anyway.00:35:47.217
- 00:35:47.217
- The avant-garde photographers...00:35:53.856
- 00:35:53.856
- I like photographs by artists who can't take pictures,00:35:59.367
- 00:35:59.367
- when you look at their photographs and say:00:36:02.187
- 00:36:02.187
- "The artists don't know how to take pictures let alone focus!"00:36:09.329
- 00:36:09.329
- So exactly these photos I'd love to buy.00:36:13.815
- 00:36:13.815
- But there is still fourth and fifth copy remaining00:36:17.615
- 00:36:17.615
- so it may come about one day.00:36:22.628
- 00:36:22.628
- As for the video, I have to admit that00:36:28.022
- 00:36:28.022
- I am conservative and I love old art.00:36:30.975
- 00:36:30.975
- It doesn't have to be Rembrandt,00:36:36.574
- 00:36:36.574
- it can be Střížek, Písařík or Meduna,00:36:38.387
- 00:36:38.387
- but it is classic painting and I hate00:36:43.130
- 00:36:43.130
- the opinion that painting is dead.00:36:46.654
- 00:36:46.654
- It's such a nonsense.00:36:51.340
- 00:36:51.340
- Painting is the basics of fine art and only00:36:53.639
- 00:36:53.639
- critics who don't understand painting00:36:57.943
- 00:36:57.943
- can state something like that.00:37:01.277
- 00:37:01.277
- Painting will be always the basics.00:37:04.120
- 00:37:04.120
- Always. As well as sculpture.00:37:05.949
- 00:37:05.949
- Important is of course the way00:37:07.925
- 00:37:07.925
- the sculpture is made or the painting painted.00:37:09.590
- 00:37:09.590
- Video is interesting, I've seen interesting videos00:37:11.921
- 00:37:11.921
- by Pěchouček for example, but it leaves me cold.00:37:18.593
- 00:37:18.593
- But when I see a beautiful painting I go crazy,00:37:28.327
- 00:37:28.327
- I skitter around, the painter thinks00:37:31.589
- 00:37:31.589
- I went completely mad and I tell him:00:37:34.171
- 00:37:34.171
- "Of course I went mad, shall we speak about the price?"00:37:36.191
- 00:37:36.191
- And the painter feels uncomfortable about00:37:39.982
- 00:37:39.982
- speaking the price and he wants me to make an offer.00:37:42.188
- 00:37:42.188
- And I say: "OK, so I want it for free then."00:37:45.609
- 00:37:45.609
- And he says: "But wait, that's impossible,00:37:48.710
- 00:37:48.710
- I must get something for it."00:37:51.818
- 00:37:51.818
- And I reply: "Well, I made my offer and now it's your turn."00:37:53.729
- 00:37:53.729
- So the videos...00:37:57.662
- 00:37:57.662
- ...they are different field from the one I am familiar with.00:38:03.888
- 00:38:03.888
- As for the installations, I'd love to have them here,00:38:08.507
- 00:38:08.507
- but it's still the same problem.00:38:12.314
- 00:38:12.314
- If we took apart an installation by Eva Koťátková for example,00:38:15.304
- 00:38:15.304
- it would be impossible for us to put it back together00:38:19.597
- 00:38:19.597
- unless she came herself and made it again.00:38:23.203
- 00:38:23.203
- Or by Lang...00:38:25.028
- 00:38:25.028
- It's such a shame. If I had the gallery...00:38:26.434
- 00:38:26.434
- Once we even considered exhibiting installations00:38:30.262
- 00:38:30.262
- and I called Edith Jeřábková as I assumed00:38:35.013
- 00:38:35.013
- she was quite at home in this field.00:38:38.374
- 00:38:38.374
- We met and drank some whisky,00:38:43.196
- 00:38:43.196
- well just one or two shots each00:38:45.006
- 00:38:45.006
- and we wrote down who to display.00:38:48.817
- 00:38:48.817
- I discovered I had a good track too but when we00:38:50.468
- 00:38:50.468
- started to think about the installation itself,00:38:55.375
- 00:38:55.375
- where to place Lang and where Koťátková,00:38:59.881
- 00:38:59.881
- we found out it was technically impossible.00:39:02.624
- 00:39:02.624
- It is technically feasible to install the exhibition,00:39:06.288
- 00:39:06.288
- but not to deinstall it ten times...00:39:09.546