The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of September 16, 2024

Bohemia

Bohemia

1963, printed 1968–69
(Czech, 1938-)
Czechoslovakia, 20th century
gelatin silver print
Gift of Joan Liftin 2022.311
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

Josef Koudelka’s photos of the Roma were initially signed P.P. or Prague Photographer, for fear of governmental reprisals against the artist and his family.

Description

Koudelka began photographing the Roma of his native Czechoslovakia, or Gypsies as they were known at the time, in 1961 and continued for a decade. This was a personal undertaking, intended to preserve the vanishing culture of a group targeted for assimilation. This image, taken in Bohemia in western Czechoslovakia, suggests both assimilation—in the form of a settled residence instead of nomadic life, a rather elegant couch, and a besuited young man—and, in his wild grin as he smokes a cigar, the independence of the Roma spirit.
  • 1968–69
    Josef Koudelka (the artist) [1938-], given to Joan Liftin
    1968 or 1969-2022
    Joan Liftin [1935-], New York, NY, given to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
    December 5, 2022-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • {{cite web|title=Bohemia|url=false|author=Josef Koudelka|year=1963, printed 1968–69|access-date=16 September 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2022.311