Artěl

Artěl (1908–1935) is a Czech arts and crafts society of distinguished figures of Czech fine arts of the first third 20^th century. The movement was of crucial importance for the development of Czech domestic culture and introduced fine arts ideas of European Modernism into applied arts. The society’s name, meaning “atelier for fine arts”, was inspired by the Russian term for association and referred to the concept of collective production with mutual support and share in the profits. The society’s first commercial brand was the stylised Art Nouveau Jumping Deer (Jelen ve skoku) designed by Pavel Janák and based on the motif of the popular wooden toy by Vratislav Hugo Brunner.

Artěl tried to cultivate the tastes and generally improve the lifestyle of Czech customers. While strict Cubist-Expressionist forms dominated at the beginning, after the formation of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, the society joined in on the efforts to create a Czech national style and was closer to Central European Decorativism.

Due to shortage of financial means, Artěl functioned as a production atelier and a commercial society specialising in designing and manufacturing small household objects made from wood, glass and metal – the so-called “small everyday art”. These small series of products were outsourced for production to small joiner’s and ceramics workshops. Products sold in the society’s shop under the Artěl brand thus served not only to promote household products, but it also bore the hallmark of exclusiveness.

In 1916, an Artěl consulting room was opened, headed by architect Ladislav Machoň. In the 1920s, Artěl received several state commissions to equip interiors of hotels, e.g. the Hviezdoslav Hotel in Slovakia and Luhačovice spa buildings. Its most famous products include colourful hand-painted lathed toys by Minka Podhajská, wooden boxes inspired by folk motifs by Vratislav Hugo Brunner and the innovative glass punch set by Jan Kotěra. Pavel Janák’s designs were also very popular – black and white glazed earthenware coffee sets with a geometric design and rounded handles, as well as innovative Cubist furniture and design metal urns.