The exhibition and publication map the famous villas of the Olomouc region

Olomouc - A fifty significant villas of the Olomouc Region from the mid-19th century to the present will be mapped by an exhibition starting Wednesday at the Museum of Art in Olomouc. The Prague agency Foibos has also published a book titled Famous Villas of the Olomouc Region, which continues the previous books about family residences in Prague and Brno. Interested persons can embark on a symbolic walk through villas in Olomouc, Prostějov, Šumperk, Přerov, and other towns and municipalities in the region.
    “We were interested not only in the style in which the selected houses were built but also in what kind of home they represented. We also tracked the fates of the people who had these houses built and lived in them. They mostly experienced ten or 15 years of peaceful life and were then persecuted in the 20th century. We also aimed for a kind of rehabilitation of this layer of society,” said Pavel Zatloukal, the director of the Museum of Art and editor of the publication, to reporters today.
    The authors selected buildings not only based on quality. They also tried to capture the handwriting of the most interesting authors. The book is divided into five chapters. While it was not a problem to select interesting buildings from the mid-19th century, the hardest task was to capture the buildings from World War II to the present. “Despite all efforts, we found only a few buildings of such quality in this period that could withstand a comparison with examples from previous decades or with what has been built in other parts of our country in the last 15 years. Contemporary architecture in the Olomouc Region is poor,” Zatloukal believes. According to experts, the period after 1989 has most affected even the old significant villas. For example, one of the villas in Prostějov housed a brothel.
    According to Zatloukal, both renowned architects and lesser-known but remarkable creators have left their mark in the region since the mid-19th century. He considers the Olomouc Art Nouveau villa Primavesi to be the greatest gem. “The Primavesi villa is exceptional not only for its architecture but also for the fates and family of Primavesi who lived there. They were very cultured and belonged to art lovers,” Zatloukal added.
    The individual villas at the exhibition are recalled through photographs, plans, drawings, as well as period furniture and models. Visitors will also see paintings by the Olomouc painter Miroslav Šnajdr the Elder from the cycle Tribute to Gustav Klimt. Klimt's works adorned the walls of the Primavesi villa, and Šnajdr created variations based on them.
    The publication that accompanies the exhibition is the third in the series Famous Villas. It includes the life stories of architects and builders, the fates of the houses, and a tourist guide. “It is the first publication from the regions that is being released. The series will continue with publications from all regions,” said Lenka Jirátová from the Foibos agency. The book was published in an edition of 4,000 copies, and people can purchase it in bookstores for 359 crowns.
    The project is under the patronage of the president's wife, Livia Klausová, who will attend the opening on Wednesday.