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Distributed for Karolinum Press, Charles University

Art Nouveau Prague

Second Edition

Translated by Petra Key
Since the collapse of the Iron Curtain in 1989, Prague has become one of Europe’s—and the world’s—most popular tourist destinations. As in London, Paris, and Rome, visitors flock to the gorgeous buildings and monuments that grace the streets of Prague, entranced by structures ranging from Gothic and baroque to cubist and neoclassical. And while hundreds of thousands stroll over Charles Bridge and gaze up at St. Vitus Cathedral each year, far fewer venture away from the crowds to seek out the countless gems of art nouveau peppered throughout Prague.

With Art Nouveau Prague, Petr Wittlich—one of Europe’s leading experts on nineteenth- and twentieth-century architecture—tours those monuments and buildings of Prague that are most representative of the art nouveau movement while offering insightful commentary on each. Along the way, Wittlich visits such sites as the Municipal House, the Wilson Railway Station, the Grand Hotel Europa, and works by sculptors František Bílek, Ladislav Šaloun, and Stanislav Sucharda.

An introductory essay by Wittlich emphasizing the role of art nouveau within contemporary currents of modern European art accompanies more than one hundred color illustrations of some of the most stunning examples of art nouveau architecture and decoration in existence, and a detailed bibliography provides additional reading for each of the sites displayed in the book. Art Nouveau Prague is a must-have for those traveling to Prague for the first time or for anyone who appreciates or wants to learn more about art nouveau style.

200 pages | 158 color plates, 10 halftones, 2 line drawings, 2 maps | 8 x 10 1/2 | © 2019

Prague

Architecture: History of Architecture

Art: European Art

History: European History

Travel and Tourism: Travel Writing and Guides


Reviews

“The color images of this small paperback are intelligently selected and gorgeously reproduced; the professionalism of Maly’s photography is evident in every page. Most heartening, the authors include not just a checklist of the illustrations but also precise addresses for the structures, making the book attractive and useful.”

West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture

“For many years Wittlich has been the most respected art historian of his generation in the Czech lands.”

Otto M. Urban, National Gallery Prague | Slovo a Smysl

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