Hvězdné nebe - Sochorovi, František Kysela

The publication Hvězdné nebe / The Sochors and František Kysela attempts to bring the reader closer to the professional and friendly ties of the family of the textile industrialist Josef Sochor (1866-1931) from Dvůr Králové nad Labem with the leading personalities of the art scene of the time, especially with František Kysela, a close friend of the family. The cooperation between industry and art, striving for aesthetically high-quality production, can be considered one of the typical features of the period of the flourishing economy of the First Republic of Czechoslovakia, in which some wealthy and influential businessmen became modern patrons and directly influenced the development of culture and visual identity of the young republic. 

The title of the book was inspired by the title of the monumental textile "The Starry Sky in the First Hour of Our Freedom on October 28, 1918", depicting the position of the heavenly bodies on the day and hour of the establishment of the independent Czechoslovak state, which was designed by František Kysela and produced in Sochor's factory in 1937. In a figurative sense, the name refers to the "stars" of the Czech art scene, with whom the founder of the successful textile factory and his sons surrounded themselves. In this sense, František Kysela shone the brightest, who, among others, designed for the company in the 1920s together with his colleagues from the Prague School of Applied Arts Jaroslav Benda, V. H. Brunner and his students (e.g. Jiří Trnka) designed textile patterns. From the early 1930s onwards, the company collaborated with representatives of the new generation of artists: with Alois Fišárek, Maria Fischerová-Kvěchová, Antonín Kybal, Karel Svolinský, Vladimír Sychra, Alois Wachsman, Toyen and others. The progressiveness of the Sochor family can also be seen in their cooperation with prominent architects whose designs corresponded with the trends of the time. Josef Gočár, Pavel Janák and Josef Grus worked on private and corporate projects, and together with František Kyselá, textile artist Antonín Kybal and sculptor Otto Gutfreund (nephew of Josef and Pavla Sochor), they contributed to the interiors of two family villas in Dvůr Králové nad Labem.  

Josef Sochor founded the company in Dvorák in 1904. Thanks to his diligence and perseverance, he soon built a company whose name has become a guarantee of quality at home and abroad. From the beginning of its existence, the factory produced and, since 1910, printed mainly cotton fabrics. In the course of the years, artificial silk was added to the production and in the mid-1930s also a high-quality permanent coloured silk called crepe de Chine. By then the company was run by the founder's sons, who achieved considerable success thanks to their modern outlook and progressive methods. In addition to research and development in the field of technology, rationalising production and increasing output and productivity, they also devoted their attention to social policy, promotion, distribution and the sale of products.  

This publication could not have been produced without the support of the Sochor family descendants, who opened their archives and provided photographs, artwork and other personal items for research. The direct testimony of oral history has made it possible to reconstruct the still inspiring story of a successful and progressive family whose fate was, however, ultimately strongly marked by the historical events of the 20th century.

Czech edition