of the various quarters of Prague, and Antonín Mayer, who chose for his etchings subjects taken from rustic life, reveals a talent which is bound to grow.
All these artists, young or old, had their origins in the Czech realism and impressionism of the period round about 1900. Some of the younger men, however, have since then thrown over the impressionist programme and arrived at synthesis on the pattern of the French, notably of Cézanne. The little group of the “Eight” began the movement, which carried painters, sculptors and architects in its train. Debates and even quarrels ensued, in which the young innovators found champions even among the founders of the “Mánes” society. None the less, a schism arose, and a new society and a new review were started. In course of time the young rebels came to find favour with the public, many misunderstandings were removed, and after years of uncompromising defiance and restless experiment, the new school have calmed down somewhat and rejoined the “Mánes” society, which has once more become the rallying-point for all who take their art seriously, a centre where the younger and older generation alike pursue their researches with a feeling of mutual respect. It is becoming more and more evident that Czech art has gained by this crisis and by this heated exchange of ideas which have probed the different points of view and infused new life-blood into an art that seemed to be suffering from exhaustion. The crisis produced among others Otokar Nejedlý (see p. 36), formerly an explorer of exotic beauty, who has since become a painter of his native countryside. Without lingering over the surface impression he makes straight for the inner structure of the landscape. After the war he proceeded to France to paint those sectors of the Western Front where the Czechoslovak troops took part infighting the Germans. With him went Vincenc Beneš, who, after attempting expressionism and even cubism, returned to
