Tearing down the wall: Reception of British art in Bohemian Lands around 1900

At the end of the 19th century, Bohemia (nowadays Czech Republic) was part
of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Czech artists were exposed to a whole array of
international art, mainly Austrian, German and French. While there is little to no
scholarship on this, British art was among these major formative sources. This
thesis is the first comprehensive study on the role of British art in Bohemia at
that time. I have identified Czech fine art journals to be the most significant
carriers of cultural transfer and use Czech art journalism as a foundation
through which I explore individual case studies. The title of my thesis comes
from a 1900 article calling for the dismantling of the symbolic wall dividing
Bohemian and British art. In my first chapter, I introduce Bohemian art journals
and demonstrate their crucial role in the mediation of British art. In the second
chapter, I present case studies of the Czech response to the English Pre-
Raphaelites. In chapter three, I explore the Czech reception of James McNeill
Whistler, who was perceived as a representative of both internationalism and
specifically British art. In my final chapter, I analyse the Bohemian fascination
with British caricature and illustration. All my case studies are based on Czech
fine art journal articles between 1895-1910. Methodologically I explore the ideas
of cultural appropriation, cultural transfer, and most importantly horizontal art
history, arriving at the conclusion that British art played a significant formative
role for Bohemian arts at the end of the century.