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Viktor Kolář

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This article is about the Czech photographer. For the Hungarian-born American composer and conductor, see Victor Kolar.
Viktor Kolář
Kolář in 2013
Born (1941-09-07) September 7, 1941 (age 83)
Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
Known forPhotography
StyleDocumentary photography
Websiteviktorkolar.com

Viktor Kolář (born 7 September 1941) is a Czech photographer. Along with Jindřich Štreit, Kolář is considered one of the most important exponents of Czech documentary photography.[1] He mainly depicts urban life in the Ostrava region.[1][2][3][4]

Early life and education

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Viktor Kolář: Retrospective, an exhibition held at the Stone Bell House, Old Town Square, Prague in 2013

Kolář was born in 1941 in Ostrava. His father, a self-taught filmmaker and photographer, was the owner of a photo studio and photo shop, an important factor in leading young Viktor to photography.[5][6]

In 1953, Kolář began taking photographs, and soon familiarized himself with the works of other photographers, particularly Henri Cartier-Bresson. From 1960 to 1964, he studied at the Photographic Institute in Ostrava.[citation needed]

Life and work

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After studying, he taught at an elementary school. From the second half of the 1960s, he devoted himself to photography. At the same time, he met and befriended the photography theorist Anna Fárová and her husband, painter Libor Fára. In 1964, Kolář held his first solo exhibition.[citation needed]

In October 1968, after the Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia, Kolář emigrated to Canada,[7] where he worked as an assistant in the molybdenum mines and as a worker in the nickel smelters in Manitoba.[1] Later he moved into photography. From 1971 to 1973, he participated in documenting shopping malls in Montreal, which resulted in an exhibition in the Optica Gallery, Montreal. In Canada and the USA, Kolář met photographers Michael Semak, William Ewing and Cornell Capa.[citation needed]

In 1973, Kolář returned to Czechoslovakia through Paris and London.[8] His return to the communist country was questioned by state authorities and Kolář was interrogated by police on several occasions.[1] As a former emigrant (and therefore considered unreliable by the regime), he gradually lost the possibility to work as a photographer. At the time of deep "normalization", he worked as a laborer in Nová Huť [cs; eo; pl; sk] Steelworks (formerly named after Klement Gottwald). However, he covertly continued his photographic documentation of the Ostrava region. From 1975 to 1984, he worked as a stage technician at the Petr Bezruč Theatre. In 1985, he was allowed to devote himself to freelance photography. In 1991, he received the prize of the Mother Jones Foundation in San Francisco.[9]

In 1994, after the Velvet Revolution, Kolář began to teach documentary photography at FAMU in Prague, where he was appointed associate professor in 2000. He also travelled and lectured across the USA.[9]

Publications

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  • Daniela Mrázková. Viktor Kolář. Ostrava: Profil, 1986. OCLC 18245947. Text in Czech, with summaries in English, German and Russian.
  • Viktor Kolář. Baník Ostrava. West Berlin: Ex-Pose, 1986. OCLC 18151558. Text in Czech, German and English.
  • Viktor Kolář. Malá Strana. Prague: Köcher & Köcher, 1993. OCLC 755098953. Text in Czech, German, English and French.
  • Viktor Kolář and Jaroslav Žila. Ostrava-obležené město. Ostrava: SFINGA, 1995. ISBN 80-7188-016-7.
  • Viktor Kolář. Seminar in Documentary Photography. Prague: Academy of Performing Arts, 2000. ISBN 9788085883565.
  • Jiří Cieslar. Viktor Kolář. Fototorst 9. Prague: Torst, 2002. ISBN 80-7215-159-2.
  • Viktor Kolář, et al. Ostrava. Prague: Kant, 2010. ISBN 978-80-7437-030-4. Text in Czech and English.
  • Viktor Kolář, et al. Canada, 1968–1973. Prague: Kant, 2013. ISBN 978-80-7437-103-5. Text in Czech and English.
  • Viktor Kolář and Roland Angst. Viktor Kolář: Human. Berlin: Only Photography, 2015. ISBN 978-3-9816885-3-5. Text in German and English. Edition of 300 copies.

Collections

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Kolář's work is held in the following permanent collections:

Solo exhibitions

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  • 1964 – Fotografie Viktora Koláře. Černá louka, Ostrava.
  • 1973 – Viktor Kolar's Czech Eye. Optica Gallery, Montreal.
  • 1976 – Člověk mezi lidmi. Fotochema, Ostrava.
  • 1978 – Ostrava. Fotochema, Ostrava.
  • 1981 – Ostrava – fotografie 1968–1980. Dům umění města Brna, Brno.
  • 1981 – Novosvětská setkání. Galerie pod Podloubím, Olomouc.
  • 1981 – Ostrava. Malá výstavní síň, Liberec.
  • 1981 – Novosvětská setkání. Galéria F, Banská Bystrica.
  • 1981 – Ostrava. Ústav makromolekulární chemie ČSAV, Prague.
  • 1981 – Novosvětská setkání. Fotochema, Ostrava.
  • 1981 – Ostrava. Canon Gallery, Amsterdam.
  • 1981 – Viktor Kolář. Fotografijos Galeria, Kaunas.
  • 1981 – Viktor Kolář – fotografie. Muzeum Stillonu, Gorzów.
  • 1987 – Viktor Kolář – fotografie. Realistické divadlo, Prague.
  • 1988 – 13 let. Galerie 4, Cheb.
  • 1991 – Viktor Kolář. Pražský dům fotografie, Prague.
  • 1991 – Viktor Kolář. Robert Koch Gallery, San Francisco.
  • 1991 – Viktor Kolář – Schwarzes Ostrava. Palais Jalta, Frankfurt am Main.
  • 1992 – Baník Ostrava. Museum Hoesch, Dortmund.
  • 1993 – Nevinné oko. Městské muzeum, Ostrava.
  • 1993 – Baník Ostrava. Rheinisches Industriemuseum, Engelskirchen.
  • 1994 – Viktor Kolář. Slovenský rozhlas, Bratislava.
  • 1995 – Viktor Kolář – 40 fotografií. Americké kulturní a obchodní centrum, Prague.
  • 1996 – Kolářovy ostravské fotografie. Dům umění města Brna, Brno.
  • 1996 – Viktor Kolář. Slezské muzeum, Opava.
  • 1996 – Viktor Kolář. Toldkammeret, Elsinor.
  • 1996 – Viktor Kolář – fotografie. Biennale of International Photography, Skopelos.
  • 1997 – Viktor Kolář – Ostrava. The Photographic Center, Athens.
  • 1997 – Viktor Kolář (1967–77). Galerie Václava Špály, Prague.
  • 1998 – Viktor Kolář – fotografie. Musée de l'Élysée, Lausanne.
  • 1999 – Viktor Kolář. České centrum, Berlin.
  • 1999 – Viktor Kolář. Ostrava 1963–1999. Galerie výtvarného umění v Ostravě, Ostrava.
  • 2002 – Viktor Kolář Photographs – Czech Photography II. Leica Gallery, New York City.
  • 2002 – Malá Strana (Prague) photographs of Viktor Kolář. Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon. 7–30 March.[15]
  • 2003 – Naostro (50 fotografií Viktora Koláře 1989–2003). Muzeum Boskovicka, Boskovice.
  • 2007 – Viktor Kolar Photographs. Museum – The World of Glass, St. Helens, UK.
  • 2008 – Město budoucnosti. Galerie u Rytíře, Liberec.
  • 2009 – Retrospektywa/Retrospective of VK. Gallery A. Starmach, Kraków.[16]
  • 2011 – Moravian Gallery, Brno. 11 March – 5 June.[1][17]
  • 2013 – Retrospective Viktor Kolář. Prague City Gallery, Prague.
  • 2015 – Viktor Kolář. Photographs. Sprengel Museum, Hannover.[18]
  • 2015 – Human. Only Photography, Berlin. 28 March – 31 May.[19]
  • 2016 – Visions of Viktor Kolář. The Lumiere Brothers Center for Photography, Moscow. 15 June – 25 September.[20]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Viktor Kolář". Moravian Gallery in Brno. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  2. ^ Baďura, Jaroslav (2 September 2010). "Kolář, legendární fotograf Ostravy, vydává knihu". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). iDnes. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Viktor Kolář: 40 let "lovu" v Ostravě". Hospodářské noviny (in Czech). iHNed.cz. 19 May 2008. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  4. ^ Chuchma, Josef (3 October 2010). "Velkolepé potýkání se fotografa Viktora Koláře s rodnou Ostravou". Mladá fronta DNES (in Czech). iDnes. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  5. ^ Ostrava (2010), p. 198
  6. ^ Viviano, Frank (March–April 1994). "Europe's dark center, Ostrava". Mother Jones. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  7. ^ "In the Face of History: European Photographers in the 20th Century". Barbican Art Gallery. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  8. ^ Birgus, Vadimír; Mlčoch, Jan. "Czech Documentary and Reportage Photography 1968–79". Stredoeurópsky dom fotografie. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  9. ^ a b "Three Generations of Czech Documentary Photography – Jan Lukas, Viktor Kolář, Evžen Sobek". Leica Gallery Prague. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011.
  10. ^ "Viktor Kolář". Art Institute of Chicago. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  11. ^ a b c d "Viktor Kolář". Viktor Kolář. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  12. ^ Search results, Moravian Gallery. Accessed 12 January 2025.
  13. ^ Search results, MFAH. Accessed 12 January 2025.
  14. ^ Search results, V&A. Accessed 12 January 2025.
  15. ^ "Viktor Kolar". Blue Sky Gallery. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  16. ^ Kubačáková, Markéta. "Photo zero-nine (Krakow Month of Photography and other festivals in Poland)". Fotograf Magazine. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  17. ^ Moucha, Josef. "The mystical city of Viktor Kolář". Fotograf Magazine. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  18. ^ "Viktor Kolář. Photographs 25. February 2015 – 31. May 2015". Sprengel Museum Hannover. Retrieved 23 February 2015.
  19. ^ "Viktor Kolář » Human". Photography-now.com. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
  20. ^ "Visions of Viktor Kolář. Czech Photo". Photography-now.com. Retrieved 12 January 2025.

References

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  • Kolář, Viktor; Balabán, Jan (2010). Ostrava. (preface: "A Return Home. An Essay on the Photography of Viktor Kolář"); Volf, Petr (interview: I am my lord, master, student, and judge) et al. Prague: Kant. ISBN 978-80-7437-030-4.
  • Mlčoch, Jan; Birgus, Vladimír (2010). Czech Photography of the 20th Century. Prague: Kant. ISBN 978-80-7437-027-4.
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