Me and Them. The individual and society in 19th-century art

The 19th century brought about changes in the role of the individual in relation to society. The “I” gradually became emancipated from social conventions and systems, and greater opportunities for individual expression were principally and strikingly represented in art. Through key Central European artworks, the exhibition will present phenomena that are significant in the process of individualisation. What form did the social representation of the individual take, and in what ways could the personal intimacy of experience be conveyed? The exhibition will highlight status symbols, uniformity and individuality in public space, and the freedom of art that, outside the canon, went against convention. It will also show how the free flow of emotions (including negative emotions such as weeping and tears) and the introspection of personal experience were represented in forms that are to some extent still valid today.

The exhibition will be held by the Gallery of West Bohemia in Pilsen in collaboration with the Institute of Christian Art History at Charles University’s Catholic Theological Faculty.