Acta Musealia

On the Early Furniture Design by Dušan Samuel Jurkovič

Early furniture design by the architect Dušan Samuel Jurkovič (1868 - 1947) is linked to the artist's stay in Wallachia as well as the beginning of his work in Brno, i.e. to the period between 1891 to approximately 1906. The artist's progressive design representing his personal perception of folklore is inspired by folk production and ornaments. On the one hand he accurately copied or modified, with his respect for tradition, the folk production (furniture for Wallachian rooms in the Životský Hotel in Vsetín and furniture for national ethnographic exhibitions) and on the other hand, under the influence of historicism and Art Nouveau, he interpreted it in an original way and in the context of the period art production and so revitalised it (furniture for Public Savings Bank in Vsetín, tourist objects in Pustevny, his flat in Brno or private furniture for Josef Válek and builder Michal Urbánek). Among Jurkovič's favourite and specific furniture decoration was fan motif, used, probably as early as 1891 (chairs from the Životský Hotel in Vsetín). This motif underwent modifications in his early works, both formal and meaningful: sun symbol, dove tail or flower motif. The production of furniture was contracted to joiners and cabinet-makers and after having moved to Brno, Jurkovič even considered founding his own furniture agency and wholesale. Cooperation of the architect with the joiner František Kaděra is witnessed by Jurkovič's correspondence, which is kept in the Museum in Frenštát; and the furniture in the collections of Regional Museum of Wallachia and Slovak National Gallery, which is signed by the initials FK, represents concrete surviving products.

Keywords: Michal Urbánek, Josef Životský, Josef Válek, František Kaděra, folklore influence, eclectic historicism, Art Nouveau, folk decorations, Public Savings Bank in Vsetín, Pustevny