Building

The building of the House of Artists came into being thanks to the initiative of SVUM members who, when selecting the best design, were led by the image of a modern sacred place, a temple of modern art, where each and every visitor will uplift their spirits by means of works of art.

The building was built between 1910 and 1913 and it ranks among the most superb designs of Antonín Blažek (1874 - 1944) and most significant sights in the town. The architect, having had the purpose of the building in mind, designed a modern exhibition place. He managed to achieve optimum light necessary for any exhibition place by appropriate distribution of windows in different parts of the House and combined them with artificial lighting. Both the functional as well as decorative elements of the house were emphasized by the use of suitable material and temperate colour scheme. The house is decorated with the Association members´ sculptures.

While designing and later implementing his design, Blažek followed closely the local folklore heritage and successfully put effort into its original metamorphosis, sensibly taking into account the local genius loci and urbanistic incorporation of the building. The architect mutually combined romantically interpreted historicist and secession elements. The House is enriched by ornamental mural paintings and mainly by two entrance arcades called „žudro".

The tout ensemble of the interior is intesified by rural furniture, wooden ceiling and paintings of Jano Köhler (1873 - 1941) in the part of the building that uses the folklore influences. By employing these elements, Blažek followed newly established folklore based approaches that had been introduced in the architecture at the turn of the century in Zakopané by Witkiewicz and in Radhošť or Luhačovice by Jurkovič. And the house truly accents its author´s goal , to merge historicist silhouettes with folklore inspired details.

The original ideas, stemming from the philosophy of Gesamtkunstwerk - integrated artwork, counted also on some rooms where various activities of the Association could be carried out and some workshops for artists. The House of Artists was indeed meant to be a real temple of art, providing a roof for all kinds of artistic activities.

In 1915 Blažek projected an extension to be built at the back of the house so that the Association gained more space for their exhibitions. During the First World War the house functioned as a military hospital, therefore some adjustments had been implemented. Some other projects from 1936 solved the ground floor extention and elongation of both wings and both architectural interventions were with some minor changes implemented in the years 1940 and 1941. Their author, once again, was Antonín Blažek. A part of the House was destroyed in an air raid in November 1944 and a subsequent reparations were carried out in 1944, according to a design projected by late Blažek´s colleague and friend Karel Madlmayr. When the Association of Moravian Visual Art Artists was abolished in 1959, the House of Artists was included on the list of Czechoslovak state galleries. At the moment the Gallery is run by the South Moravian Region, based in Brno.