„Naprosté vzdálení“ u Jindřicha Chalupeckého

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Jindřich Chalupecký (1910–1990) made a name for himself in the second half of the 20th century not only by popularising foreign artistic tendencies in Czechoslovakia, but also by his specific idea of the position of Czech (and to a lesser extent Slovak) art in the world. This conception was not solely prompted by the specific cultural situation during the period of state socialism, but can be found already in Chalupecký’s early texts. In the 1930s, as a young critic, he reflected on the relationship between the local and international avant-garde. In the second half of the 1940s, i.e. during the period of the so-called Third Republic, he became involved in the contemporary debate on the East-West relationship. The synthesis of both themes contributed to Chalupecký’s later (unrealistic) belief in the unique position of Czech art in a global context. Chalupecký’s conception of the place of Czech art in the world was not based on an ideologized opposition to the socialist state, but rather on a geographically conditioned perception of the cultural situation in Central Europe. It can also be seen as an early and very distinctive variant of later discussions on the relationship between cultural centres and peripheries.