Drawings by Bedřich Smetana
| Pages | 97-116 |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Bedřich Smetana – pencil drawings – registries and diary entries – drawings of towns and landscapes – hunting scenes – biography of Bedřich Smetana |
| Citation | MOJŽÍŠOVÁ, Olga . Drawings by Bedřich Smetana. Musicalia. Journal of the Czech Museum of Music / Časopis Českého muzea hudby . Prague: National Museum, 2013, 5(1-2), 97-116. ISSN 1803-7828 (Print), 2533-5634 (Online). Also available from: https://publikace.nm.cz/en/periodicals/mjotcmom/5-1-2/drawings-by-bedrich-smetana |
Materials preserved from the estate of Bedřich Smetana include a set of small pencil drawings which have so far attracted relatively little attention. They do not comprise any systematic body of art, nor do they reflect a special hobby of Smetana’s. Rather, he generally made them spontaneously, for pleasure or diversion, or for the purpose of documenting for himself an interesting place or event. Thus they round out and enliven our image of Smetana as a human being. He made these drawings on the back sides of and fragments of old letters and official forms, which fact sometimes allows us to date them approximately. For some drawings one can find explanations in his diaries. The drawings fall into several groups by subject: towns and landscapes as through seen from a bird’s eye view (elaborated in detail), miniature hunting scenes, months, drawings from the sites of some of Smetana’s sojourns during summer vacation periods, and headings of months in some calendars that Smetana used as diaries. The article sheds light on the circumstances and times of origin of the drawings based on biographical connections and information from written sources.
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