Josef Sudek

Czech, 1896-1976

BiographyOften referred to as "The Poet of Prague," Josef Sudek (1896-1976) remains one of the best-known 20th-century Czech photographers. The quality of light that he employed in lyrical photographs of his city's parks, streets, and rooftops and still lives of household objects to evoke a romantic sense of beauty and wonder in everyday scenes gained him worldwide recognition.

Sudek began to experiment with photography while apprenticing as a bookbinder during his teenage years. Deciding to pursue a career in photography after losing an arm during World War I, he joined the Prague Club for Amateur Photographers in 1920 and studied at the State School of Graphic Arts in Prague from 1922-24. After completing his studies, Sudek, along with fellow photographers Jaromir Funke (1896-1945) and Adolf Schneeberger (1897-1977), co-founded the Czech Photographic Society in 1924 that rejected Pictorialism's "artistic artifice," and instead embraced a Modernist straight photographic approach much like the Photo-Secession in the US.

Sudek quickly received national attention for his first editioned series, published in 1928, that documented the final construction stages of St. Vitus' Cathedral, Prague (begun 1344). Exemplifying the mastery of light and shadow that defined his career, Sudek carefully studied the changing light's effects on the cathedral to create elegant images that featured both the building's soaring architecture and materials associated with the ongoing construction bathed in radiant light. A few years later, the artists' collective Družstevní práce sponsored his first solo exhibition in Prague (1932), which then traveled to several other Czech cities to rave reviews.

Capitalizing on this newfound name recognition, Sudek focused on commercial photographic work during the 1930s while exploring and photographing Prague's environs. He also began a series of surreal still lives that juxtaposed various household items in unexpected ways. Sudek remained in Prague during World War II rather than emigrate like many of his colleagues and became increasingly reclusive with the Nazi occupation. Relying upon photography as an antidote for the turmoil around him, Sudek adapted his landscape practice to his current situation in the series Night Walks and From the Window of My Studio. He also developed his highly regarded approach to still life by arranging complicated configurations of objects like glasses or papers, which he termed Labyrinths. Sudek relied upon the lens distortions of large-format turn-of-the-century cameras and his expert use of light and shadow to create dreamlike, mysterious compositions out of commonplace scenery and objects. Considered the pivotal moment in developing his signature style, the rich contact prints that Sudek made during (and after) this time of struggle and seclusion remain his best-known work outside of the Czech Republic.

After the war, Sudek continued spending much time photographing in his studio and the parks and forests around Prague. Although his intuitive work did not align with the social realism embraced by the newly formed Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the country's largest socialist publisher commissioned his first monograph in 1956. He was awarded the National Artist of Merit in 1961, becoming the first photographer to receive the honorary title.

While Sudek consistently exhibited his work in the Czech Republic, he did not gain widespread international recognition until the end of his life. He was honored with retrospectives at the George Eastman House, Rochester, New York (1974); the Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague (1976); International Center of Photography, New York (1976); and the Museum Ludwig, Cologne (1976). His work continues to be regularly exhibited, most recently with a major traveling exhibition of his work organized by the Jeu de Paume, Paris and the National Gallery of Canada (2016-17).

Today, Sudek's work is in many public and private collections, including the Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid; Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Harvard Art Museums; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

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