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| Our profileAfter the Soviet occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1968 hundreds of thousands left their homeland and settled in countries wherever they were welcomed throughout the world. They assimilated rapidly and proved themselves to be competent in their professions. Artists, however, found themselves in a particularly difficult situation. Many writers had a command of the language of their host country that was less than adequate for them to be able to establish themselves. Publishing houses-in-exile sprang up in Zurich, Cologne, Toronto, London and Rome and very many books appeared in the Czech and Slovak languages. The visual artists were unknown in their new homeland, moreover they lacked the financial means to organize exhibitions. This meant that they could not present themselves to their public. This was one of the reasons why we founded the Krause art gallery in 1972. It offered opportunities for exhibitions, was a place where our fellow countrymen and the Swiss public could meet and offered many an unknown artist the chance to launch his artistic career. In addition to unknown artists, those who had already acquired a reputation in the world also exhibited. These included e.g. Jiri Kolar from Paris, Jan Koblasa from Hamburg, Lecoque from Los Angeles and others. After the velvet revolution in 1989 in former Czechoslovakia and the fall of the Soviet Union, the artists-in-exile were once again free to exhibit in their homeland. With the changing situation there came a change in the conception of the gallery. We were now able to present Czech art in its entirety. Little by little contacts were made: in the gallery we presented drawings by Jiri Anderle, glass objects by Bohumil Elias, sculptures by Olbram Zoubek as well as ceramics by Stanislav Martinec. On each successive visit to Prague we discovered other artists. In this way, the names of Adolf Born, Oldrich Kulhanek, Jan Bauch, Karel Chaba and many others made their appearance in the Swiss press. Also works of artists no longer living, who in the meantime are counted as belonging to the classical modern movement, were displayed in our gallery. They included e.g. Jan Zrzavy, Frantisek Tichy, Ota Janecek or Emil Fila. Thanks to modern media such as the internet the art exhibits can be admired not only by visitors to the gallery but by all those interested in art on our internet pages. In this way works of art from the Krause gallery have already passed in to several private collections around the world. We work with transport agencies of high repute so that rapid and safe delivery is guaranteed. We are delighted that you have visited our internet homepage and trust that the exhibits displayed there have aroused your interest. We hope that you will continue to derive much pleasure from art in all its manifestations and that we may, in the future as in the past, continue to welcome you to our gallery. Alice and Oskar Krause |
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