Sudek and Sculpture

The famous Czech Photographer Josef Sudek (1896–1976) managed to capture the unique and fleeting atmosphere of the city in his photographs of Prague. Thanks to his unmistakable photographic still lifes, he became an internationally recognized author during his lifetime. The publication touches on the hitherto little-known chapter of Sudek's work - photographing works of art to order - especially his beloved theme - photographing sculptures. Thematic essays accompany full-page reproductions and the medallions of the most important customers (artists, associations or publishers) are richly illustrated and reveal unexpected connections between Sudek's work and contemporary artistic circles and tendencies. The book reveals fundamental questions related to the history of photography and maps the changing tension between the ability of photographic reproductions to bring art closer to people and the potential of photography to survive as a significant work of art. Editor: Hana Buddeus Texts: Hana Buddeus, Katarína Mašterová, Kateřina Doležalová, Zuzana Krišková, Mariana Kubištová, Martin Pavlis, Fedora Parkmann Translations: Barbora Štefanová, Hana Logan Copy editing: Julia Tatiana Bailey Index: Tatjana Štemberová Design: Martin Groch & Tim+Tim Litography: Radek Typovský Publisher: Artefactum – Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences & Karolinum (1st edition, 2020) Reviewed by PhDr Hana Rousová and Doc. Karel Císař, PhD 624 pages, 429 images