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Get acquainted with the ex-libris in the Historical Building of the National Museum and find out how a bookplate may look.
An ex-libris (bookplate) is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, the purpose of which is to indicate to whom the book belongs or from which library it comes. The exhibition For books, for collection, for joy. XVI. The triennial of Czech Ex Libris 2020, prepared by the National Museum in cooperation with the Museum of Czech Literature, represents above all the very best of contemporary Czech art. The exhibition consists of 126 small graphics from 46 different authors. You will see, among other things, the work of ten artists who won awards at the exhibition of contemporary Czech Ex Libris between 2018 and 2020, which for the sixteenth time has provided an opportunity to observe the developments in traditional graphic techniques and the search for new approaches to modern techniques, changes in artistic tendencies and iconographic trends. Unawarded works can subsequently be seen by means of a virtual tour available directly at the exhibition site on a special screen as well as on the website of the Museum of Czech Literature.
The prints in the frames are also complemented by an installation of three-dimensional exhibits presenting the essence of the printmaker’s work. The essence being what the printmaker works with (tools), what material he uses (printing blocks) and what the final prints look like. Examples of used ex-libris refer to the original purpose of ex-libris – to identify the owner of a book. One of the ex-libris, for example, is directly painted in a book by Josef Váchal for Hanka Macková, and there is also a rare original ex-libris design with corrections.
The triennial of Czech Ex Libris has been held for fifty years, since 1992 under the auspices of the Museum of Czech Literature. In 2020, the National Museum Library, which maintains the second largest ex-libris collection in the country, joined the competition as a partner. There are over one hundred thousand bookplates in the collection, the oldest of which dates back to the 16th and 17th century.
The creation of ex-libris or bookplates, which were originally used to indicate the ownership of a book, is now a traditional artistic discipline. Before it became an independent collector's field, as we perceive it today, it underwent an interesting historical development. Contemporary ex-libris, associated with the book culture and the genre of free graphics, has been transformed into a specific discipline which prominent artists and art school students devote themselves to.
