ABSTRACT
The experience of modernity in the Czech lands between the late 19th century and the beginning of WWII – which consisted of the interaction between the drives for industrialisation, capitalism, and secularisation and ongoing nationalist concerns – created specific conditions for how modern art was located in modern Czech society. The main agents that reflected on the nature of Czech modern art were indeed art writers, who published in artistic journals, as well as national and regional newspapers; who wrote monographs, pamphlets, and books of collected essays. Their expertise, however, did not lie solely in art criticism and art history, but was often comprised of a much wider pool of interests, including history, literature, politics, and theatre. As national and regional consciousness intensified in provincial centres, local art groups, museums, and other institutions that often functioned as a Czech equivalent to the already established German bodies were established across the Czech lands.
