The Křídla Motýlí exhibition of Max Švabinský's works in Kroměříž, the Czech Republic

Community and Forum → Blog → The Křídla Motýlí exhibition of Max Švabinský's works in Kroměříž, the Czech Republic

Lev Bely, 07.02.2012 23:03

“A Butterfly's Wing” (Křídla Motýlí) exhibition is open this Thursday, February 9th in the Small Gallery (Malá Galerie) of the Museum of Kroměříž district. The exhibition is dedicated to Max Švabinský, a well-known Czech painter and graphic artist. It was arranged by painter's friends together with the museum to mark 50 years since his death (1873—1962), also 100 years since his daughter Zuzana Švabinská and a collector Josef Pola were born.

Two collections exceptionally match together: the first one comprises Švabinský's butterflies and flowers paintings, while the second is his own collection of butterflies and moths donated to the museum by a collector Josef Pola and his family. The exhibition presents butterflies and moths in all their beauty of velvety wings, multiple shapes and colors that always inspired poets, artists and collectors.

Max Švabinský fancied and collected butterflies since the very childhood and he used them in his works afterwards. At the exhibition you can see about 50 works including his famous Apollo (Parnassius apollo) and The Portegeuse Peacock (Inachis io) on a thistle, also books with Švabinský's illustrations such as The Blue Underwing (Stužkonoska modrá) by Petr Bezruč, The Butterflies Time (Motýlí čas) and The Blue Sky (Modré nebe) by a poet František Hrubín.

Same as Švabinský, Josef Pola also began collecting butterflies in his youth and devoted all his life to that. Thirty entomological boxes demonstrating the full butterfly life-cycle and even food plants are exposed at the museum. There are also some exotic and declining species. The specimens are originally from Chropyně and all Kroměříž district.

As a part of the exhibition, an art contest was organized for elementary and secondary school children, and anyone who'd like to participate. The winners will be announced on the first day of the exhibition at the vernissage in the Small Gallery this Thursday, February 9th, starting at 17:00.

The Křídla Motýlí exhibition is open till March 25th.

Muzeem Kroměřížska, http://www.muzeum-km.cz

Picture: Max Švabinský's illustration of the Motýlí čas book, http://matama.blog.cz

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