The Západočeská galerie v Plzni is presenting to the public for the first time, in the Masné krámy exhibition hall, 102 works by the sculptor Zbyněk Sekal, which it received as a gift from the estate of his wife.
The Západočeská galerie v Plzni is presenting the exhibition Zbyněk Sekal: Beloved Beings in the Masné krámy exhibition hall. It consists of 102 works by the Czech sculptor, painter and translator Zbyněk Sekal, which the gallery received in 2025 as a gift from the estate of his wife. The public sees them for the first time. The exhibition runs until 7 March 2027 [1][2].
Contents of the exhibition
The set includes bronze sculptures, wall-mounted assemblages and wooden objects that the artist called receptacles. It covers practically the whole of Sekal's creative period, from the first half of the 1950s through the 1960s to works made from the 1970s until the artist's death in 1998. Sekal lived in Vienna from 1970 [1][2].
The exhibition was prepared by Marie Klimešová, an expert on Sekal's work, as a considered view of the donated set. The sculptures and assemblages are complemented by selected excerpts from the artist's diaries, which, according to the curator, show how he thought about his work and how he perceived material. Sekal often used objects found at dumps or in containers [1].
The gallery's curator Petr Jindra drew attention to the receptacles from the 1980s. At the core of each is a found object that once served some function, and around it the artist built protective layers. According to the curator, the receptacles recall reliquaries in which, in place of the remains of saints, traces of human life and civilisation remain [2].
The gift and its place in the collections
The gift makes up almost a third of the sculptures and objects that the artist's widow looked after in her Vienna house following his death. The gallery's director Roman Musil called it the largest set of its kind in the history of the institution [1].
The gallery first presented Sekal's work in 2014 at the exhibition Greeting from a Distant Land, Greeting to a Distant Land, likewise prepared by Marie Klimešová. Through her, the artist's widow was in contact with the gallery. In 2018 the gallery bought three works, which supplemented the only sculpture in its collections, acquired in 2003 [1].
The artistic estate was by bequest divided also among other institutions, including the Muzeum umění Olomouc, Museum Kampa and the National Gallery Prague [1].
Related articles: Plzeň, Plzeň Region
Chronology
- — The Západočeská galerie v Plzni in the Plzeň Region presents the exhibition Zbyněk Sekal: Milované bytosti in its Masné krámy exhibition hall, made up of 102 works by the sculptor from a gift from his estate; the exhibition is planned to run until 7 March 2027. Deník: Plzeňský kraj Český rozhlas Plzeň
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Sources
- Deník: Plzeňský kraj — 9 October 2026
- Český rozhlas Plzeň — 9 October 2026