Reproduction, Circulation and the Artistic Status of Photography in the Work of František Drtikol

Sixth session of the 2025-2026 CEFRES Francophone
Interdisciplinary Seminar“Dépaysements”: Clues and Trajectories.
Organized in collaboration with Photomechanicals Talks as part of the PhotoMatrix conference cycle of the Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Location: CEFRES, Na Florenci 3, Prague 1
Date: Friday, April 24, 2026, 10 am
Language: French

Speaker: Fedora PARKMANN (Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences / CEFRES associated researcher)
Discussant: Lara BONNEAU (Institute of philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences / CEFRES associated researcher)

L’intervention est organisée en collaboration avec Photomechanicals Talks, le cycle de conférences du projet PhotoMatrix (Institut d’histoire de l’art de l’Académie tchèque des Sciences).

Abstract

To speak of  “dépaysements” in relation to photography requires reflecting on the mobility of images, whether geographical – across different national contexts – or material – from the original print to its printed reproductions. We will examine the effects of these shifts on the cultural status of the photographic medium and the construction of artistic reputations, using the case of František Drtikol as a starting point. A leading figure in the Pictorialist movement, Drtikol worked to establish photography as an art form by widely disseminating his portraits and artistic nudes in magazines and books during the interwar period, both in Czechoslovakia and around the world. The international visibility and widespread critical success he thus secured, however, required close monitoring of the conditions under which his images were reproduced. Through this case study, we will therefore examine the extent to which reproduction techniques affect, or even redefine, the artistic value of photographs.

See the complete program of the 2025-2026 seminar here.