Exhibition
held under the auspices of logo MFA

Patrik Hábl

Immortāles
Through the Eyes of Time
Portraits between Image and Memory

16 September – 30 November 2025
Tuscan Palace, Hradčanské náměstí 182, Prague 1

Open Tuesday – Sunday:
in September from 10 am to 6pm
in October and November from 10 am to 5pm
Admission free

Curator: Lucie Němečková
Curator of the Art Collections of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic: Jana Peroutková

"I have long been interested in what the viewer experiences in their mind and with their eyes when looking at an image. Whether an image can evoke emotions and whether it is possible to transform not only the viewer and the image, but also the space itself.”

Patrik Hábl

For accompanying publication click HERE

Between Image and Memory

Patrik Hábl’s exhibition, held in the historic stables of the Tuscan Palace of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, came into being as a unique response to a significant cultural event: the donation of Jan Masaryk's (1886-1948) former art collection from London. This gift to the Ministry was a donationby Ms Alenka Soukup, the daughter of Masaryk’s personal secretary, Lumír Soukup, who acquired his art collection and personal effects at a London auction in 1949.

„Indeed, it was from this act that the exhibition emerged and developed its central theme: the portrait as a space between image and memory, between permanence and gradual decay,

says Jana Peroutková, curator of the Art Collections of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic.

"In his installations, Patrik Hábl has long explored the unique and intimate communication between human, image and space. Similarly, this context was also one of the inspirations behind the exhibition “Immortāles – Through the Eyes of Time,”

adds Lucie Němečková, curator of the exhibition.

The Faces of Old Masters

The inspiration and starting point for Faces of Old Masters were iconic works by Old Masters, yet the resulting paintings are not mere passive transcriptions of the visible world; instead, they reveal the full breadth of Patrik Hábl's artistic scope.

„I have been exploring the face for a long time, not only in a descriptive narrative form, but above all through a technique that I developed myself: the tearing technique, where the painted surface is left for several years before being opened and torn. I call this process ‘The Body of the Painting’, in which I tear the painting and get under its skin, down to the bone,“

says Patrik Hábl.

Faces of the Dead and Disappearing

The series "Faces of Prematurely Deceased" features faces of personalities from the worlds of literature, music, fine arts, and politics whose lives ended prematurely. Patrik Hábl paints them in a consistent technique of washed-out imagery.

„We are confronted with a collection of faces, portraits of people; a mosaic of history that presupposes, even demands, the involvement of the viewer. Every observer who enters the world of those who left this world prematurely can experience their own story, one of many hidden in the eyes of the people depicted,“

describes Lucie Němečková, curator of the exhibition.

Art Collections of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

One of the most intriguing artworks from the Foreign Ministry collection – the Baroque painting of St. Barbara, hidden for centuries beneath an overpainting of a floral still life of the vanitas genre and revealed only during recent restoration work – serves as the symbolic guardian for the entire exhibition. The vanitas, traditionally invoking the ephemerality of human life and the futility of all earthly goods, here forms an artistic veil beneath which St. Barbara nearly vanishes from memory. It is her eyes, suddenly awoken for only a brief moment, that seem to emerge from the depths of time and layers of paint to follow all the other portraits and the half-erased stories. In the ecclesiastical canon, St. Barbara is also the patron of those who suffer sudden death – and her presence here forms the symbolic framework for all the other artworks and carries them onward in time.

Jan Masaryk's Personal Collection

Patrik Hábl's unique exhibition is interwoven with the significant donation of an art collection from the estate of Jan Masaryk, which was presented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic by the family of Lumír Soukup, Masaryk's personal secretary.

The exhibition features selected works from this collection, which was recently donated to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Among the rare pieces on display are Masaryk's ceremonial cloak, which has never been exhibited before, and his bust.

Among the most significant parts of the exhibition are the newly created portraits of Jan Masaryk and his brother Herbert, made explicitly for this occasion. Even here, Hábl does not approach these visages as historical documents, but rather as fragile traces of memory: he makes no attempt to reconstruct a likeness, but captures the tension between the present, the loss, and the reinterpretation of historical moments.

Prof. doc. MgA. Patrik Hábl (1975, Zlín)

www.patrikhabl.com

Patrik Hábl – a painter who works not only with image but also with space. His work has been recognized with the Waldes Prize, the Europol Prize, and the Graphic Art of the Year Award. He was among the Top 10 nominees for the Person of the Year for the most significant artistic achievement of 2013.
Hábl became the first living Czech artist whose paintings were repeatedly included in the global selections of the finest works of the 20th and 21st centuries by Christie's and Sotheby's auction houses, and he repeatedly broke his own auction records.

Patrik Hábl teaches at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague. He is a member of the UB and Hollar associations.

Practical info for the exhibition

Patrik Hábl
Immortāles–Through the Eyes of Time

Dates: 16 September – 30 November 2025

Venue: Tuscan Palace, Hradčanské nám. 182, Prague 1

Opening hours: Tuesday– Sunday:
in September from 10 am to 6pm
in October and November from 10 am to 5pm

Admission free

Contact: p.habl@email.cz

The exhibition is held under the auspices of logo MFA

Impressum:

Author: Patrik Hábl
Curators: Lucie Němečková, Jana Peroutková
Architects: Ing. arch. Jan Topinka, Domy Architects
Graphic Designer: Oleh Pavlikov
Translation: Lucie Němečková a Martina Dlabajová – Seven Partners s.r.o.
Professional cooperation: Simona Martínková
Production: Martina Rychetská, Dendrit s.r.o.
Construction and installation: Václav Horecký, NAGA, s.r.o., Ambrož Baxant
PR and Marketing: Martina Rychetská, Dendrit s.r.o., Silvie Marková, SMART Communication s.r.o.
Graphic Production and print: Spyrons.r.o.
Publication: Karel Kerlický KANT
Website design: Lukáš Barták, Circles
Print materials partner: Ing. arch. Jan Topinka, Ing. arch. Michal Juha, Domy Architects
Partner of Patrik Hábl's Exhibition: Pale Fire Capital Se
Acknowledgements: Alenka Soukup, a donation from Jan Masaryk's personal collections