Lot 51

Vlastislav Hofman (1884 - 1964) A TABLE LAMP

Vlastislav Hofman studied architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague (1902-07 under Josef  Schulz and Jan Koula). In 1918 he became a member of the Tvrdošíjní ("Stubborn Ones") art group and started working with Artěl as an industrial designer. He was highly versatile: an architect, urban planner, industrial designer, interior designer, painter, printmaker, and architectural and decorative art theorist and critic. In architecture he was one of the co-creators of Czech Cubism, infusing it with dynamism. His artistic expression was distinctive, even though his work is connected with the generation of Kubišta, Čapek and Špála. However, Hofman is primarily known among Czech art historians for his stage design. He is rightly called the founder of Czech modern scenography, creating three-dimensional stages with dynamic lighting instead of flat backdrops. In 1919-21 he was the stage designer for Vinohrady Theater in Prague, moving to the National Theater and Estates Theater in 1921. At the same time he also worked as a head construction director in Prague, wrote for art magazines and exhibited his paintings at the Topič Gallery (1928,-30,-31,-40), at Umělecká Beseda’s Aleš Hall (1935), and at Svépomoc (1938). An exhibition of his oeuvre was held in Prague in 1960.