František Doležal, “American Modern Painting,” translated from Czech by John Minahane, originally published as “Americké moderní malířství,” in Svobodné noviny (April 5, 1947): 5

Frantisek Dolezal was a Czech art critic, journalist, painter, and poet. He also co-founded the Galerie Vincence Kramare in Prague, where he curated exhibitions in the 1960s. Frantisek Dolezal’s review treats US art in terms of a one-way exchange from Europe to America, and locates the uniquely American creative spirit in the architecture of the skyscraper. An exhibition of works by modern American artists is to open next week in Brno’s House of Art. The accompanying exhibition of photographs of American architecture shows clearly that the American spirit fulfils itself most completely in mighty buildings. Here there are not just skyscrapers, as indicators of the modern architectonic sensibility of America, but also smaller structures, weekend homes, and striking interiors, all of them evidence of the American feeling for space and form. The range of interests moves from descriptive painting via Expressionism to abstract painting.