BYT A UMENI
Volume 2, No. 6, 1931
F. Hala [Editor]
F. Hala [Editor]: BYT A UMENI [Revue Pro Soucasnou Bytovou Kulturu]. Prague: "Mars" [Fikejz a Kusak], 1931. Original edition [Volume 2, No. 6, 1931]. Text in Czech. Slim quarto. Side-stitched in perfect bound thick photographically printed wrappers. 28 pp. Black and white photographs. 2 color plates [with tissue guards]. 14 pp. of text articles and period advertisements. Wrappers well thumbed with marks and a closed tear to fore edge. Textblock thumbed. Cover photograph: porcelin by Fa Epiag, Prague. A good or better copy. Rare. 9 x 12 side-stitched journal with 28 pages of gorgeous black and white photography and 14 pages of text and period Decorative Arts trade advertisments. Published in Prague for only three years [1930 - 1932] BYT A UMENI concentrated on presenting the best achievements in White Functional design in these areas: Architektura Vnitrni Zarizeni [Architecture Interior Furnishing]; Malirstvi [Painting]; Plastika [Sculpture]; Umelecky Prumysl [Applied Arts]; Rucni Prace [Handmade]; Starozitnosti [Antiques]; Vystavy [Exhibitions] and Aukce [Auctions].
Contents:
- Heating a Small Apartment by Inz. F. Masnik and M. Ostrava
- Interiors and Buildings by Bri Fiserove, A. Stecklmacher, Fr. Lanka, J. Hradee, Prof. Novak, Prof. Andrlik, Navrhl Jar. Hlavac, Veprek a Zalud, Ant. Hrych, K. Machae
- Architect Max Gerstl, Prague.
- Architect A. Stecklmacher, Prague.
- Small Flat Device by K. Veprek and V. Zalud
- Architect Kurt Spielmann, Prague.
- Color plate interior by Prof. Novaka.
The years between 1917 [the entrance of the USA into the World War, the October Revolution and the launch of De Stijl] and 1930 [the second economic crisis, the success of CIAM in Frankfurt and Brussels] are considered the "heroic age" of modern architecture. During this time, the images, language and manifestos of the International Avant-Garde were codified and transmitted primarily through independently produced journals and "little magazines." BYT A UMENI showcased Prague and the rest of Czechoslavakia as a hotbed of functional design, from International Style buildings and interiors, to bent metal furniture and a blossoming avant-garde plastic arts scene.
The culture of the new-founded state of Czechoslovakia after the First World War was orientated and inspired by the Avant-Garde in the major cities of Europe, especially Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam. The short-lived national movement in architecture termed rondo-cubism was later replaced by the new spirit of White Functionalism, which dominated Czechoslovakian architecture until the beginning of the Second World War and which has subsequently come to be seen as one of the most interesting, though often overlooked, contributions to the International Style.
Spreads from this volume can be viewed here.
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