[Press Release]
The Return of Ladislav Sutnar
The life and work of a significant Pilsen native, versatile industrial designer, graphic designer, educator and
painter Ladislav Sutnar is mapped in an extensive project, The Return of Ladislav Sutnar, which is one of the
flagship initiatives within the Pilsen - European Capital of Culture 2015 project. The goal of this initiative is both
the return of this famous Pilsen native son to Pilseners and the return of Pilsen as his native town and the
Czech Republic as his native country to Ladislav Sutnar, this brilliant designer, deliberately neglected and
virtually wiped out from the cultural history by the country’s former regimes.
"History has not been kind to Sutnar due to political upheavals. Although the Czechoslovak Republic entrusted
Sutnar with "putting a face to the world " on the Republic, by having him design various state exhibits around the
world, political circumstances were erasing his existence and achievements prior to 1939. First the Nazi regime
started to eradicate Sutnar's existence because of his opening the Czech Pavilion at the 1939 World Fair. After
1948 because of Sutnar's anti-communist activities, the Communist regime continued," recapitulates Ladislav
Sutnar’s son, Radoslav.
The Return of Ladislav Sutnar project was conceived and is headed by the Dean of the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of
Design and Art Josef Mištera. It is implemented by the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art in co-operation
with the West Bohemian Museum, the Gallery of the City of Pilsen and the Pilsen 2015 association. “I am proud
that the faculty which I established in Pilsen may bear the name of this Pilsen native man of genius. There is only
one higher education institution called the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art in the whole world – and it is
ours. I often say that my dreams have reached fruition: the establishment and building of the faculty, the
International Summer School of Art, and the like. As for my “Sutnar dream”, even what I never dreamt of has
come true. In Rad Sutnar, I have found a close friend, and I dare say this relationship is mutual. Rad likes
introducing me jokingly as ‘my brother, the one I have always longed for‘. Our friendly relationship and profound
mutual confidence have made it possible to implement the Return of Ladislav Sutnar project in its entirety.
Together, we are rectifying the damage in the history of (not only) Czech culture caused by that malevolent era,”
adds the dean of the faculty, Doc. Mištera.
While the artist’s name is known especially in professional circles and to design students in the Czech Republic, in
the United States of America, where Sutnar became famous after his immigration there, he is, to this day,
considered one of the most distinguished postwar designers in America. He substantially modernized toy, glass,
porcelain, metal, textile, graphic, and exhibition designs, founded information design as a branch, and is
considered a forerunner of Internet information solutions.
The Return of Ladislav Sutnar project comprises a number of activities, in which Sutnar’s work will gradually,
during the course of 2015, be presented to the public in the center of Pilsen. The exhibition of Sutnar’s book
design opened at Ladislav Sutnar Gallery in mid-March will soon be followed by the presentation of his applied
art in the West Bohemian Museum, and later on, of his paintings at the Gallery of the City of Pilsen. In addition
to the series of concurrent exhibitions, a permanent exposition of Ladislav Sutnar’s work will open in the West
Bohemian Museum in Pilsen this June. The project also includes an international art and design competition for
university students, the publication of several books and a documentary devoted to the work of this versatile
artist. Next, several hundred copies of his famous building block set are planned to be produced and a
monument is to be installed in the city center.
These activities can only be managed with the support of the City of Pilsen, the Pilsen - European Capital of
Culture 2015 project and Radoslav Sutnar. Mr. Sutnar backed the foundation of the Ladislav Sutnar Gallery, the
Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art, and the prestigious Ladislav Sutnar Prize, which has already been
awarded three times to prominent personalities and institutions from Europe and the USA, such as the J. P. Getty
Trust, Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Steven Heller (USA), Prof. Gyula Ernyey (Hungary), Doc. Jiří Šetlík
(CR) and others.
“Our family is thrilled and grateful to the City of Pilsen for the inclusion of Ladislav Sutnar among the cultural icons
of the 2015 celebrations,” says Radoslav Sutnar, who, during his 2014 Pilsen visit, even donated an original
painting from the Venuses cycle to the City of Pilsen as a symbol of the return of his father to his hometown. He
then commented on this act as follows: “Now, with the approach of 2015, you should have a real, full- size Venus
here. It is therefore my great pleasure to present you with this Venus, whose original title was Venus with Raven
Hair. We have renamed it Venus/Pilsen is a Woman.”
“It is important to remember Sutnar’s legacy in the context of the entire project not only as an important part of
the cultural heritage of Pilsen, but mainly as an inspiration for the next generation of artists who create their
works here and help stamp Pilsen with the imprint of a cultural metropolis, ” says program director of Pilsen 2015,
Jiří Sulženko.
Ladislav Sutnar‘s return to his hometown has not only a symbolic but also a real level – in November 2014,
seventy-five years since his departure to the US, his and his wife Františka’s remains were buried in the Pilsen
Central Cemetery. The designer of the tombstone is Doc. Petr Vogel from the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design
and Art.
“I have tried to initiate the foundation of a museum of design with Sutnar’s name in Pilsen, which would house the
largest European collection of Sutnar’s works; given their importance, Sutnar deserves that, and so does Pilsen.
For the time being, a permanent exhibition of a cross-section of Sutnar’s work – the only one in the Czech Republic
– will open in the West Bohemian Museum in Pilsen. There is a lot we can learn from him; therefore, his works
should not be lying in depositories,“ concludes Mištera.
Overview of exhibitions and events within The Return of Ladislav Sutnar project:
Ladislav Sutnar – Book Design: Ladislav Sutnar Gallery / 11. 3. – 29. 8. 2015
In its extraordinarily comprehensive selection of examples of graphic solutions to books, magazines and
occasional prints, the exhibition presents in a comprehensive and detailed way the individual stages of Sutnar’s
work from the twenties to the sixties of the twentieth century. It follows the artist’s Pilsen beginnings and his
gradual shift towards the progressive principles of new typography, clearly apparent in his works for the
Družstevní práce (CooperativeWorks) publishing house and culminating in his cover designs for the Výtvarné
snahy (Fine Art Endeavors) and Žijeme (We Live) magazines. The top exhibits include also examples of editing
sheet music and publications of the State Graphic School in Prague. Sutnar’s privatissima – his uniquely preserved
New Year greetings – attract, no doubt, well-deserved attention, too. The exhibition also presents the artist‘s
postwar American works of art, now globally recognized as a major breakthrough contribution in the field of
visual communication and a constantly challenging basis for the development of modern visual design.
Address: Ladislav Sutnar Gallery, Riegrova 11, Pilsen
Ladislav Sutnar – Applied Art: The West Bohemian Museum in Pilsen / 15. 5. – 6. 12. 2015
Opening 14. 5. 2015 / 5 p.m.
The exhibition will represent Sutnar’s progressive functionalist design in the thirties of the twentieth century, and
enhance the idea of its aesthetic values. This will be done not only through a collection of numerous exhibits, for
the first time including all variants of his famous porcelain and glass table sets, cuttlery and other metal
accessories designed for Krásná jizba (Beautiful Parlour). What will help create a deeper understanding of
Sutnar’s art of design thinking is also the instalation of the exhibition itself, which will, deliberately, be similar to
Sutnar’s concept of the presentation of objects in the shop windows and printed materials of Krásná jizba. For
variety’s sake, the exhibition will include a collection of Sutnar’s toys – means of transport and animals, and the
only set of Sutnar‘s unique Postav si město (Build the Town) block set left in Bohemia, borrowed from the
Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague.
Address: The West Bohemian Museum, Kopeckého sady 2, Pilsen
Ladislav Sutnar – Venuses: Gallery of the City of Pilsen / 22. 5. – 6. 8. 2015
Opening 21. 5. 2015 / 5 p.m.
Another exhibition of the designer Ladislav Sutnar, whose legacy goes beyond the borders of the European region
and whose work crosses the borders of classic design and becomes almost free art. The exposition will focus, in
addition to several paintings where the artist experiments with geometric figures, on Sutnar‘s famous cycle of
female nudes, which he called Venuses. The exhibition will present a selection of paintings and posters both from
public and private collections. And what makes this exhibition so exceptional? The building which houses the
Gallery of the City of Pilsen is the birthplace of this famous author; he was born here in 1897. This is therefore
literally the return of the work of this famous Pilsen native to the place of his birth.
The exhibition will be complemented by the works of students from several studios of the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty
of Design and Art, participants in the Tribute to Sutnar project, which respond to and reflect the artist’s work and
his art principles. The display will include animation, toys,paintings, books, jewelery and other objects inspired by
Ladislav Sutnar.
Address: Gallery of the City of Pilsen, nám. Republiky 40, Pilsen
Ladislav Sutnar – a World Designer from Pilsen /Opening 25. 6. 2014
A permanent exposition in the main building of the West Bohemian Museum in Pilsen will remind everyone of
the work and significance of the world-renowned designer, Pilsen native Ladislav Sutnar. In a representative
cross-section, visitors will get acquainted with all areas of his versatile and extensive work. The section devoted
to applied art design will be dominated by functionalistic porcelain and glass sets for Krásná jizba. Sutnar’s
graphic design will be represented in both book typography arising mainly from the cooperation with the
Družstevní práce publishing house, and progressive, new typography magazine covers from around 1930. The
author’s American period will be documented in publications that summarize his pioneering and founder‘s role in
the area of visual communication and design.
Hommage à Sutnar - Europe, Culture: Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art / 8. 5. – 29. 5. 2015 – inernational
competition and travelling exhibition. Opening 7. 5. / 5 p.m.
Here, through posters, students of art universities and colleges will pay tribute to Sutnar – typographer, graphic
designer, author of posters, theoretician, pedagogue, a man who believed that art and design have the power to
transform humanity and make the world better. At the same time, they reflect on the question of cultural values
in contemporary Europe.The project is coordinated by Doc. Josef Mištera and Prof. Karel Míšek. The other art
universities involved besides the Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art are the Faculty of Art and Design of the
UJEP in Ústí nad Labem, the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Bratislava and the Academy of Fine Arts in
Warsaw. The project outcomes will be presented in Pilsen in May 2015 and at Vaclav Havel International Airport
in Prague in autumn 2015.
Books to be published:
Jan Mergl, Dominik Mačas, Radoslav Sutnar, Josef Mištera / The Return of Ladislav Sutnar – monograph on the
life of Ladislav Sutnar including interviews with his son Radoslav Sutnar. The book will be complemented by a
radio series.
Tomáš Vlček / Venuses – a book about Ladislav Sutnar‘s paintings.
Jan Mergl, Tomáš Sanetrník / Ladislav Sutnar – Applied Art (working title) – the first full inventory of Ladislav
Sutnar’s interwar works.
Josef Mištera, Jan Mergl / Ladislav Sutnar and Pilsen – a brief biography of Ladislav Sutnar, a significant Pilsen
native.
Steven Heller / Ladislav Sutnar for Children and Youth – publication of a pop-up book for children. The author of
the texts is a respected American graphic design theoretician and publicist, Steven Heller; the design of the
book is being arranged by an illustration student, Marcela Konárková (under the supervision of Doc. Josef
Mištera)
The Return of Ladislav Sutnar – a thirty-minute television documentary mapping the return of a famous native to
Pilsen.
Build the Town – implementation and instalation of a monument inspired by Sutnar‘s building block set Build the
Town in the center of Pilsen.
Build the Town – implementation of copies of the famous building block set and its production in a limited
number of copies.
Media contact:
PhDr. Lenka Kodýtková, Head of PR
Ladislav Sutnar Faculty of Design and Art, University of West Bohemia
lkody@fdu.zcu.cz , phone: 00420 723 089 832
Mirka Reifová, PR manager Pilsen 2015
reifova@plzen2015.cz, +420 606 090 801
Photos for download: from the presentation of the painting “Venus/Pilsen is a Woman”, in print quality: can be
downloaded here / Sutnar‘s applied art: here / Sutnar‘s book cover “Design in Action” (1961) : here