Devětsil Union of Modern Culture

1920–1930

Devětsil Union of Modern Culture was founded on 5 October 1920 in Prague, where its headquarters were located, while it also had a branch in Brno. It was founded by left-wing artists and theoreticians of art who had met either in the grammar school in Křemencová or in Žižkov. Its founding members include poets Artuš Černík (also theoretician of literature), Josef Frič, Jaroslav Seifert, Ivan Suk; prose writers Vladislav Vančura; architect Josef Havlíček; fine artists Adolf Hoffmeister, Ladislav Süss, Karel Vaněk, Alois Wachsman; theatre artist Karel Prox; theoreticians Vladimír Štulc and Karel Teige; Karel Veselík (whose profession and identity are still a mystery for literary historians). Later additions include poets Vítězslav Nezval, František Halas, Konstantin Biebl and temporarily also Jiří Wolker; prose writers Karel Konrád, Jiří Weil and the German-language writer Franz Carl Weiskopf; theoretician and critic Bedřich Václavek, painters Josef Šíma, František Muzika, Jindřich Štyrský, Toyen (real name Marie Čermínová); architects Jaromír Krejcar, Bedřich Feuerstein and theatre artists Jindřich Honzl, Jiří Frejka, Jiří Voskovec and Emil František Burian.

Devětsil originally advocated proletarian art, but under the leadership of Karel Teige it developed its own art movement – Poetism. The group’s key books Devětsil and Life (Život) were published in 1922. The group’s programme was based on the idea of introducing art to the widest public as possible. Members were led by an idea that was at the core of all avant-garde movements – the collective character of artistic activities. In 1925, the group was renamed into Devětsil Union of Modern Culture. The Prague branch published the magazines Revue Devětsilu (ReD) and Disk, while the one in Brno published the magazine Pásmo. They also dealt with photography and film. The group also had its own scene – the Liberated Theatre. During the 1920s, some members left the group due to differences in worldviews, or were expelled. In 1927, the Brno branch ended it activities and in 1930 the one in Prague did the same.