The leitmotif of the exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of Libor Fára’s birth is the setting of his studio in Prague’s Vinohrady district—a place where the artist felt most at home, where he listened to jazz, and where he worked until his death in 1988. In its time, it was a renowned location, visited by prominent Czech and international photographers who portrayed Fára there or simply captured the atmosphere of kindred spirits meeting and creating. Many friendships and professional relationships—often extending beyond the visual arts—were formed or deepened in this space. Among them, we should remember theatre director Jan Grossman, who was born in the same year as Fára and whose centenary is also being commemorated this year.

Libor Fára had great respect for photography; he used it in his work and shared a deep passion for the medium with his wife, the photography theorist and historian Anna Fárová. One could say that photography spreaded his studio through both literally and figuratively. This brings us to another key aspect—one that made this unique exhibition possible. In the age of analog photography, it was customary that if you visited someone and took their picture, you would later give them prints of those photographs. From such encounters, a tangible memento in the form of physical photographs remained. The present exhibition is composed of exactly these kinds of mementos—original prints by the respective photographers, so-called vintage prints. This explains the wide variety of formats and the visual character of the enlargements on display. Josef Chuchma