Buried by decades of Cold War tension, the Czech modernist tradition has gone largely unexplored in the study of 20th-century art. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston hopes to remedy this gap in modern art discourse with its exhibition, New Formations: Czech Avant-Garde Art and Modern Glass from the Roy and Mary Cullen Collection, which runs through Feb. 5, 2012.

This isn't the MFAH's first go-around with the lesser-known movement. Launching a well-received Czech Modernism show in 1989 — only months before the non-violent Velvet Revolution led to the country's first democratically-elected government since 1948 — the museum found itself at the forefront of an emerging field, which remained largely cut off from Western audiences since World War II. The show's catalog remains one of the most thorough English-language books on the subject.

An Inspired Collection

After visiting the 1989 MFAH show, Houston philanthropists Roy and Mary Cullen were quickly taken by the topic, prompting the couple to travel to Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic) to see the art and democratic evolution for themselves.

"The Cullens were deeply impressed by our Czech Modernism exhibition," said MFAH contemporary art curator Alison de Lima Greene, who helped organize the New Formations show. "They experienced the Velvet Revolution first-hand and were even in Prague the day Vaclav Havel was elected president in December of 1989. For them, this was a profoundly inspiring experience and an essential aspect of their collection."

"My interest in collecting Czech modernism started with one of the first pieces I every purchased, a beautiful drawing by abstract artist František Kupka," Mary Cullen told CultureMap, noting that she and her husband had purchased very little art up to that point. Her fascination grew as she came across work by Prague-based painter Toyen, one of modernism's earliest female artists, as well as rare pieces by Surrealist illustrator and poet Jindřich Štyrský.

"Czech artists were trapped in a 50-year time capsule, and nobody, I mean nobody, outside of Czechoslovakia knew what was there," Cullen expanded in a recent statement. "Czech art is still not fully integrated into the history of the 20th century ... I really wanted to make sure that the collection tells the whole story as much as possible."

Modern Art in Isolation

The show begins with work from the Devětsil group, a forward-thinking collective of artists steeped in the rapid industrial and scientific advancement of the interwar period. On display is a full run of the group's influential magazine, ReD (Revue Devětsilu), whose editor Karel Teige help to introduce modernist figures like James Joyce, Marc Chagall and Le Corbusier to Eastern Europe. Devětsil poet Vítězslav Nezval's celebrated Abeceda (Alphabet) is also featured.

The exhibition follows with a look at Artificialism and Poetism — two Prague-based movements responding to Dada and Cubist theories in France — and continues with an exploration of the Czech avant-garde's shift towards eroticism and Surrealism. An array of modern glass pieces is interspersed throughout the show, highlighting a period of rapid transformation from Art Nouveau to clean, Czech Functionalism

"I always bought from the heart for this collection," Cullen told CultureMap. "Many of these artists in the show existed in isolation from mainstream art during and after the Second World War. I want to give them a voice."

While Toyen remained a lesser-known figure with the postwar Parisian Surrealists, Štyrský died during German occupation after several years of creating art behind closed doors. Teige produced little work after the Soviets seized control of Czechoslovakia, as the nation's Communist press slandered the artist as a Trotskyite. He died in 1951.

"I'm thrilled to give Toyen, Štyrský and Teige their day," Cullen said. "The work of these artists has certainly passed the test of time and their credit to modern art is long overdue."