Milada Schmidtová Čermáková (1922-2015): Footsteps in the Clouds

06. December 2017 - 11. February 2018

Milada Schmidtová Čermáková (1922-2015): Footsteps in the Clouds

6. 12. 2017 - 11. 2. 2018

There are not that many leading artists, neither male or female, that still can be discovered in Czech modern art. However, the work of unknown Milada Schmidtová, daughter of the internationally famous naive painter Natálie Maslíková - Schmidtová (1895-1981), is a recent discovery. The creative path of Milada Schmidtová is coincidentally associated with the city of Zlín, respectively with the Baťa School of Art (1939-1947). Today´s artistic public became aware of her incredible War Cycle (as it has come to be known) from 1944-1945. Today, we consider this work as a unique contribution to the second wave of Czech surrealist artists from the War period and the years immediately following the war. Milada´s life in the 1950´s, and the years to follow, were anything but easy. In 1954, she was expelled from the School of Fine Arts in Bratislava, just before graduating, due to some political reason, and thus she returned to her native home in Vysočina, concretely to the solitary environment near Bystřice nad Perštýnem. She spent the rest of her life here alone. She painted and drew more or less from her own extreme internal pressure, and her life as a recluse was already overwhelmed by other legends. After her recent death, it was discovered that she left behind stunning drawings and a series of distinct pictures, in spite of the fact that many said her work had been destroyed. This particular work has been saved thanks to the enthusiasm of one collector from the area of Vysočina. Her first retrospective exhibition can currently be seen at the Regional Gallery of Art in Zlín and at the Václav Chad Gallery of Fine Art, also in Zlín. A catalogue of this fascinating solitary post-War Czech artist accompanies the exhibition. After the premiere, the exhibition will continue to the Regional Gallery of Vysočina in Jihlava.

Curator: Václav Mílek