Vladimír Kopecký

* 1931

Witnesses of local events connected to WWII, Art and censorship
27. 5. 1942 - Assassination of R. Heydrich, 17. 11. - 29. 12. 1989 - The Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia
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    Well paid contracts in line with the ideology were given to the officials

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    “According to this regulation, every public construction project funded by the state had to spend a certain percentage of its budget on art. And we, as at Kaplický's studio, we studied monumental art and glass, we learned how to do mosaic, stained glass, sandblasting, and just everything that had something to do with glass. So that's how we made our living. As they had to spend the money, anyway so we made our living by providing artwork as part of the architecture. The well paid contracts in line with the ideology were given to officials, and we didn't want to do it anyway. So that's how we lived.”

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    Germans plunged bayonets into our cupboards

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    “That's why I remember this experience, when Heydrich was shot. As the day after that this bus with no roof approached. And all these German soldiers got off and they were searching all the neighborhood. They would pierce our cupboards with bayonets, searching for foreign agents. And on the evening before that we were listening to London. And after that there was this German radio station operating on these short waves. So as they came in the morning, it was still on, so they found out that we were listening to German radio. So they would just nod their heads in agreement and leave.”

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    My mother said I would be an artist. I didn't know what she was talking about

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    “That I can still remember quite clearly. I drew a horse and my mother praised the picture. And she showed it to my father: 'Look, he drew a horse.' He said that it wasn't that much. And she said: 'How stupid of you, you can't even appreciate what he has done?” After that, my mother told me that I would be an artist, a painter. And I didn't know the meaning of the word. Nevertheless, I kept saying that I would be an artist, a painter. I had it in me and I loved to paint, even as a child.”

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    Praha, 09.03.2018

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I have never let politics to interfere with my job

Portrait, 2018
Portrait, 2018
photo: autoři natáčení
photo: autoři natáčení
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Vladimír Kopecký was born on November 26th, 1931, in Svojanov. He spent his childhood in Uhříněvec near Prague. He witnessed a series of events related to the Second World War. From 1946 to 1948 he had been studying at the Secondary School of Glassmaking in Kamenický Šenov. He completed his secondary school education at the School of Glassmaking in Nový Bor. After that, he studied glass sculpture and painting at the Academy of Art, Architecture and Design in Prague, graduating in 1956. His works were bought by entities all around the world; his paintings are a part of the National Gallery in Prague’s collection. In 1958 he won the Gold Medal for his contribution to the Expo Exhibition in Brussels. Among his most known works in the Czech Republic are mosaics in Havířov and Ostrava-Vítkovice Railway Stations. His works could also be seen at the Konica Company showroom in Japan. From 1990 to 2008 he was a professor at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.

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