Group 42 was a Czech

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....

 artistic group officially established in 1942 (although its roots date to 1938–1939, forming in 1940). The group's activity ceased in 1948, but its influence on Czech literature

Czech literature

Czech literature is the literature written by Czechs or other inhabitants of the Czech state, mostly in the Czech language, although other languages like Old Church Slavonic, Latin or German have been also used, especially in the past. Modern authors from the Czech territory who wrote in other...

 and Czech art was still evident in further years.

This group was mainly influenced by civilism, cubism

Cubism

Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...

, futurism

Futurism (art)

Futurism was an artistic and social movement that originated in Italy in the early 20th century. It emphasized and glorified themes associated with contemporary concepts of the future, including speed, technology, youth and violence, and objects such as the car, the airplane and the industrial city...

, constructivism

Constructivism (art)

Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...

, and a bit by surrealism

Surrealism

Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....

. Their work revealed a characteristic enchantment

Enchantment

Enchantment may refer to:*Incantation or enchantment, a magical spell, charm or bewitchment, in traditional fairy tales or fantasy*the sense of Wonder or Delight**for the usage by J.R.R. Tolkien, see "On Fairy Stories"titles and proper names...

 by technology

Technology

Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...

, evident in their frequent focus on cities, factories, industry, and machines. The human characters are generally common townspeople.

The article The World, We Live In (Czech

Czech language

Czech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...

 Svět, v němž žijeme) by Jindřich Chalupecký provided Group 42's primary theoretical foundation.

Poets

• Ivan Blatný
  Ivan Blatný
  Ivan Blatný was a Czech poet, member of Skupina 42 .-Life:...
  
  
• Jan Hanč
• Jiřina Hauková
  Jirina Hauková
  Jiřina Hauková was a Czech poet and translator. She was a member of the Group 42 , together with her husband Jindřich Chalupecký.- Biography :...
  
  
• Josef Kainar
• Jiří Kolář
  Jirí Kolár
  Jiří Kolář was a Czech poet, writer, painter and translator. His work was divided between literary and visual art.- Life :Kolář came from a poor family of a baker and a seamstress...
  
   (also a visual artist)

Painters

• František Gross
• František Hudeček
• Jan Kotík
  Jan Kotík
  Jan Jakub Kotík was a Czech artist and rock drummer.- Life :Jan Jakub was the son of composer Petr Kotík and curator of contemporary art Charlotta Kotík, who emigrated to the USA in 1970. Jan was a musician and visual artist...
  
  
• Kamil Lhoták
  Kamil Lhoták
  Kamil Lhoták was a Czech painter, graphic artist, and illustrator. He was one of the members of Group 42.- Biography :...
  
  
• Bohumír Matal
• Jan Smetana
• Karel Souček
  Karel Soucek
  Karel Soucek was a Canadian professional stuntman. He lived in Hamilton, Ontario....
  
  

External links

• Avant-gardists – A pair of art rebels step into the mainstream, Naomi Lindt, 8.3.2006, The Prague Post
  The Prague Post
  The Prague Post is an English language weekly newspaper covering the Czech Republic and Central and Eastern Europe.It is the only English-language newspaper in the Czech Republic...
  
  
• Legendární Skupina 42, (Josef Fronc), Zpravodaj 2/2005
• České diskontinuity, an interview with Jiří Kotalík at the jedinak.cz
• Example photos of book Skupina 42