Vlastislav Hofman

He was one of the pioneers of Czech modernism. Although he did not have as many realisations as his Cubist colleagues, he became our most important Cubist-expressive architect. Apart from several Prague bridges, he is best known as the author of the project of Ďáblický Cemetery or the crematorium in Moravská Ostrava, which was unfortunately insensitively demolished during the normalisation. A large part of his work is set design; as a theatre designer he designed over 200 theatre scenes for the National Theatre in Prague, for which he also designed costumes and masks. Together with Josef Čapek, Václav Špála and Jan Zrzavý, he was at the birth of the Tvrdošíjní group in 1918, where Hofman presents himself mainly as a painter and graphic artist. He was also one of the main members of the Artěl cooperative, for which he designed original furniture sets as well as smaller glass and ceramic objects. Hofman's iconic designs for ashtrays, vases and coffee sets occupy an important position in the development of our design. Barbora Kovářová