Bohumír Čermák and His Work for Brno

Description

Architect and designer Bohumír František Antonín Čermák (1882–1961) was born into a mixed Czech-German marriage and studied in Vienna. In 1908, he established his own architectural office in Brno and subsequently founded the Artistic-Craft Workshops, which focused on complete interior solutions, including furniture and home accessories, small art objects, and toys. Before World War I, Čermák was a young talented creator who brought contemporary influences of Viennese modernism to the Brno environment. His work was inspired by the ideas of Otto Wagner, who advocated simplicity and functionality over the excessive decorativeness of late historicism. Čermák's work is characterized by modernist purity of forms combined with subtle, often floral decor. The lecture by art historian Pavla Cenková is part of the series Faces of Brno Architecture, organized by the House of Art of the City of Brno as part of the Brno Architectural Manual program.