Josef Sudek, Last Rose (detail), 1956, gelatin silver print, 28.2 × 23.2 cm. Gift of an anonymous donor, 2010. National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. © Estate of Josef Sudek. Photo © NGC
THE INTIMATE WORLD OF JOSEF SUDEK
This Canadian Photography Institute exhibition at the National Gallery of Canada is the first major show to examine the work and life of Czech photographer Josef Sudek (1896–1976) and his intimate circle of artist friends during the decades before and after the Second World War.
The Intimate World of Josef Sudek celebrated the work of an artist considered to be the father of Czech modernist photography. Sudek produced some of the twentieth century’s most haunting images taken through the window of his studio, as well as of gardens, parks and streets of his beloved city, Prague, working solely with bulky large-format cameras.
The show is the inaugural exhibition in the new, dedicated space of the Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada and was presented in 2016-1027, following its opening at the Jeu de Paume in Paris.
“A donation in 2010 from a generous, anonymous donor made the Canadian Photography Institute’s Sudek collection the largest of its kind outside the Czech Republic, with close to 1,800 pieces. We are delighted to present a portion of the collection to the North American audience through this outstanding exhibition,” noted Luce Lebart, the then Director of the Canadian Photography Institute.