On 25 June 1924, in the year when a number of separate municipalities merged to create the administrative unit of “Greater Ostrava”, the city welcomed Czechoslovakia’s President Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk for an official visit. During his stay in Ostrava, Masaryk visited the ironworks in Vítkovice, where he was received with great pomp and ceremony; a specially built hoist lifted him to the top of blast furnace no. III to enjoy the panoramic views.
The archives of the Gallery of Fine Arts contain several black-and-white photographs documenting Masaryk’s visit to Vítkovice; the photographs are probably the work of Rudolf Valentík. We can imagine the scenes Masaryk may have experienced at the ironworks if we look at graphic pieces by Ferdiš Duša and Vladimír Silovský, who depicted the production process during the 1920s.
The exhibition in the Gallery’s Graphic Art Section is being held as part of the celebrations to mark 100 years since the creation of Greater Ostrava (1924–2024).

Gabriela Pelikánová

Curator: Gabriela Pelikánová
Text: Gabriela Pelikánová
Translation: Christopher Hopkinson
Graphic design: Katarína Jamrišková
Promotion: Jana Malášek Šrubařová, Magdaléna Staňková