The exhibition showcases the projects and life story of film architect Lukeš

Prague - The exhibition at the Lucerna Gallery showcases the designs of film architect Rudolf Lukeš (1923 to 1976), including those that were realized and those that were not. It also recalls the life story of a man who was denied the opportunity to work in his chosen field by the socialist regime. Lukeš was expelled from the Barrandov studio after February 1948, but he anonymously won a competition for a foreign trade enterprise that distributed his uniquely illustrated spatial pop-ups for children worldwide during the socialist era. The exhibition will run until November 9.

Rudolf Lukeš was born in 1923 in Prague. He studied at the Czech Technical University and architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts. He completed his studies only in the post-war years and focused on film architecture.

After 1946, he initially worked as an assistant to film architect Štěpán Kopecký at Barrandov Film Studio; that same year, he also worked as his assistant on the film drama Breakthrough, directed by Karel Steklý. He made his debut as an independent film architect the same year with the war drama Heroes Are Silent, directed by Miroslav Cikán, and the biographical film about violin virtuoso Josef Slavík, Violins and Dreams, directed by Václav Krška. In 1947, he worked on the drama They Live Among Us, directed by Miloš Makovec, and the drama Conscience, directed by Jiří Krejčík, both completed in 1948.

"Krejčík was thrilled with his designs for the film. He later recalled that they were meticulously crafted and perfectly captured the grim atmosphere of the entire psychological drama. Rudolf was simply starting to become in demand, even though he was only 24," stated his wife, Taťána Lukešová, in her book I Write While I Remember. The talented film architect also collaborated with the then-young Polish director Andrzej Wajda on his film Border Alley.

Rudolf Lukeš's career was halted by February 1948. He tore up his application to join the Communist Party during those early February days, and he was not even allowed to enter the Barrandov studios anymore. In her book, Lukešová recalls how in 1954 Jiří Krejčík smuggled him in as an artist for the filming of the movie Frona with Hana Hegerová. She accompanied him at that time solidarity behind the fence, as Lukeš was not allowed to enter the studio through the main entrance.

For many years, he worked as a sign painter at the National Technical Museum. He collaborated with Ludvík Aškenázý as a theater scenographer. In the 1960s, he anonymously won a competition organized by the Artia publishing house, a foreign trade company for the import and export of cultural goods during socialism. This marked the beginning of his career as an illustrator, and his spatial pop-ups were sold worldwide, aside from Czechoslovakia. Czech readers had access to them only from 2016.

Rudolf Lukeš was rehabilitated in 1969, but he never returned to film. He died in 1976 from his second stroke.