On July 8, 2021, the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum in Madrid hosted the conference "Óscar Domínguez in Czechoslovakia (1946-1949)," organized by TEA Tenerife Espacio de las Artes, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Spain and SpainArt. The event was dedicated to analyzing one of the most unique and least-known periods in the career of the Canarian surrealist artist during his stays in Czechoslovakia between 1946 and 1949.
The conference brought together leading specialists in contemporary art and historical avant-gardes to examine the relationship between Óscar Domínguez and the Czechoslovakian cultural environment of the post-war period. Among the participants were art historian Pavel Štěpánek, curator Isidro Hernández, critic Juan Manuel Bonet, and researcher Eliseo Izquierdo, who addressed both the artistic dimension and the critical reception of Domínguez in Central Europe.
The meeting also served to present the monograph Óscar Domínguez in Czechoslovakia (1946-1949), the result of several years of research on works held in Czech and Slovak collections. The publication highlights the cultural relations between Spain and Czechoslovakia after the Second World War and emphasizes the influence that Domínguez's surrealist imagery exerted on Central European artists and intellectual circles.
During those years, Domínguez participated in exhibitions held in cities such as Prague, Olomouc, and Bratislava, consolidating ties with local artists and developing a body of work marked by new visual structures, imaginary machines, and compositions with a strong symbolic charge. Many of these works remain in Czech and Slovakian collections today, becoming an exceptional testament to the international stature of the Canary Islands artist.
The event held at the Thyssen thus provided a unique opportunity to rediscover an essential facet of Óscar Domínguez and to strengthen cultural ties between the Canary Islands, Spain, and the Czech Republic through art, research, and historical memory.
PROGRAM
Thursday, July 8, 2021
> 4:30 p.m. Opening of the Conference by H.E. Mr. IVAN JANČÁREK, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Spain, the Island Director of Culture of the Tenerife Island Council, Mr. Alejandro Krawietz Rodríguez, and Marcela Tosal, Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in the Canary Islands and President of SpainArt.
5:15 – 6:00 p.m. Relations between Czechoslovakia and Spain in connection with the painters of the School of Paris. The case of Óscar Domínguez. Pavel Štěpánek, Art Historian and Curator of the project.
Pavel Štěpánek, Art Historian and Curator of the project.
> 18:30 – 19:30 h. La pintura checa de Óscar Domínguez. A propósito de un proyecto.
Isidro Hernández, Curator at TEA Tenerife and Curator of the project.
7:45 – 9:00 p.m. Dialogue. The scope and critical reception of Óscar Domínguez in Czechoslovakia.
José Carlos Guerra Cabrera, Art Historian; Pavel Štěpánek and Isidro Hernández, Curators of the project.
