A Rule-Breaker's Unique Vision: Jaromir Funke

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AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHY IS something we take for granted. But the National Gallery of Art show "Jaromir Funke and the Amateur Avant-Garde" reminds us of an era when being a shutterbug was about more than re-creation.

Enter Jaromir Funke, the artist represented in the exhibition whose work in the Czech photography movement after World War I has largely been overlooked.

"His art has gained increasing attention in the marketplace and among lovers of photography privately," says the show's curator, Matthew Witkovsky (who recently left for the Art Institute of Chicago). "It was time to make him the center of an exhibition."

Although born in 1896 in the Czech town of Kolin, Funke's story starts in 1924, when, after a stint studying law, he enters his country's first nationwide amateur photography exhibition. The show was filled with images from local camera clubs, but Funke's stood out. He was immediately admitted to the esteemed Prague Photo Club.

But Funke had more modern concepts in mind, and soon moved away from popular idyllic subjects toward sharp urban views and experimentation. Inspired by Cubism, Dada and, especially, Man Ray, his most revolutionary series, "Abstract Photo," a still-life series developed over two years, stands out in the exhibition for its overlapping shadows and reflected light.

These works offer a unique look at the growth of modernism throughout the photography community, for pros and amateurs alike. Images from his contemporaries, such as Eugen Wiskovsky and Josef Sudek, also help put this era, and the artists it cultivated, into focus.

» National Gallery of Art, 4th Street & Constitution Avenue NW; through Aug. 9; 202-737-4215. (Archives-Navy Memorial)

Written by Express contributor Danielle O'Steen
Photo courtesy National Gallery of Art