Repairs of Jurkovič Villa move indoors, an exhibition is being created

Brno - The reconstruction of the rare Jurkovič villa in Brno has entered another phase. After a year of construction, craftsmen and restorers have completely moved indoors, where a new exhibition dedicated to the work of architect Dušan Jurkovič is slowly taking shape. The most difficult construction work has already been completed. The villa is expected to open to the public in the spring of 2011 as one of the reminders of the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Moravian Gallery in Brno, said gallery spokeswoman Lenka Vodičková today.
    The reconstruction began last year with a challenging repair of the roof and rafters. Craftsmen disassembled the roof under a special structure and numbered the individual tiles to return them to the same place. Another visibly noticeable achievement is the construction of visitor facilities - a ticket office, cloakroom, and restrooms. The house also has new utilities and an elevator.
    Inside, restorers had a lot of work restoring floors, parquet, original plasters, and paper wallpapers. "The house has a large number of wooden elements that needed to be restored and their surface finish renewed. Some parts damaged by moisture or wood-boring insects had to be replaced,” stated curator Marie Kopecká. The replicas of the furniture were made by restorers according to the original drawings and period photos.
    From the outside, one can now see, for example, the repaired entrance gate, which returned to its place after restoration in June. A completely new feature will soon be the glass mosaic designed by Josef Bolf on the villa's wall. It will replace the original mosaic, which can no longer be restored due to missing documentation.
    The permanent exhibition about Jurkovič and his work will occupy five rooms on the ground floor of the villa — an almost authentically preserved space of the hall and reception room, as well as a former bedroom, children's room, and bathroom. Short-term exhibitions will be held on the first floor. In the attic's reading room, interested parties will look into specialist literature and a digital database of materials related to Jurkovič's work.
    Slovak Dušan Samo Jurkovič (1868 to 1947) is among the most significant architects who operated in the Czech lands at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. He uniquely combined Art Nouveau and other modern styles with the tradition of folk architecture. His famous buildings include those in the Beskydy mountains at Pustevny, spa buildings in Luhačovice, and modifications of the castle in Nové Město nad Metují. He designed and built the villa in Brno-Žabovřesky for his own needs, but he lived in it only briefly. It was then inhabited by private owners for almost a century until it was acquired by the Moravian Gallery.
    Through Jurkovič's villa, the Moravian Gallery has expanded its scope into the area of architecture, which is one of the long-term goals of the largest art museum in Moravia. "We are also working in parallel on other projects related to the same area, including the preparation of a permanent exhibition of Josef Hoffmann in Brtnice and the rehabilitation of the Místodržitelský Palace complex in Brno,” stated gallery director Marek Pokorný.