JAROMÍR FUNKE
(1896–1945)
Funke began photographing at age twelve, when his father gave him his first camera — an early spark for a life that would place him at the center of European modernism.
Early Life and Education
Jaromír Funke was born in Skuteč, Bohemia, on August 1, 1896, into a well-off family, and died in Prague on March 22, 1945. He studied medicine, then law and philosophy at Charles University in Prague and the University of Bratislava, but left his studies unfinished, turning instead to photography full time after the First World War.
The Czech Avant-Garde
By 1922 Funke had become a freelance photographer and one of the most forward-thinking figures in Czech visual art. Two years later, alongside Josef Sudek, he co-founded the Czech Photographic Society, pushing back against pictorialist tradition in favor of pure, distinctly photographic technique. Funke coined the term "Photogenism" for his own approach, and his work absorbed and reflected the major currents moving through European art at the time — Cubism, Constructivism, New Objectivity, Poetism, and Surrealism.
Style and Technique
His signature still lifes transformed everyday objects — plates, bottles, glasses, light bulbs — into studies of geometric abstraction, using mirrors, shadow, and reflected light to blur the line between the real and the composed. Diagonal lines and extreme angles became a hallmark of his compositions, and his later "Abstract Photo" series worked with shadow alone, stripped of any recognizable object at all.
Teaching and Legacy
Funke was as influential in the classroom and on the page as he was behind the camera. He headed the photography department at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bratislava from 1931 to 1935, then taught at the State School of Graphic Arts in Prague until 1944. He edited the journal Fotografický obzor (Photographic Horizon) and continued to publish it at real personal risk through the early years of Nazi occupation, remaining active as a writer, editor, and organizer until his death in 1945.
Museum Collections
Today, Funke's photographs are held in the permanent collections of major museums worldwide, including:
- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York
- Centre Pompidou, Paris
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
- National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
- Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid
- Art Institute of Chicago
Available Works at GALLERY M
View a select grouping of Jaromir Funke works online here or speak with a GALLERY M specialist today. 