Paris’ Czech Cultural Center exhibits the work of photographer Jaromir Funke (1896-1945) who was a leading figure in Czech photography during the 1920’s and 1930’s. Funke’s work is a melange of the major trends in modernist European photography, blending constructivism and functionalism with surrealism, photograms and social commentary. He cofounded in 1924 the Czech Photographic Society with Josef Sudek and Adolf Schneeberger. Two years later he produced a series of Surrealist images of store windows titled “Glass and Reflection,” inspired by Eugène Atget.
The exhibition focuses on his surrealism and avant-garde studies including details of industrial buildings, landscapes and nudes. Some of Funke’s photographs from the 1920s, with their pioneering use of light and translucence rank among the most radical examples of abstraction of that period. His work is increasingly appreciated by collectors. Funke’s “Composition from “Abstraktni Foto sold at Sotheby’s New York for $350,000.
Jaromir Funke, Photographe d’avant-garde, to December 15, 2017, Centre Tchèque, 18. RueBonaparte, 75006, Paris