Milena Dopitová. I’ll Stay a Little Longer

Michal Ranný (1946 Brno - 1981 Praha), in whose memory the prize is awarded, was an important fi gure of modern Czech painting, a leading proponent of lyrical abstraction, whose work blends the natural with the existential. The prematurely deceased artist whose life and works inspired a number of other artists, himself followed in the footsteps of, for example, Jiří John and belongs to the circle of painting related to the work of Josef Šíma, Robert Hliněnský or Václav Boštík.

The Michal Ranný Award is announced biannually by the Friends of the Moravian Gallery and the Moravian Gallery in Brno to highlight the work of a remarkable artist who is both formally and content-wise making an outstanding contribution to Czech visual culture and whose work and thinking has a substantial infl uence on the emerging generation of artists. This award for the original contribution to visual art has been given since 1999 and is intended for artists (with no condition regarding age or nationality) resident in the Czech republic. The prize is awarded following a decision made by the jury consisting of seven members, two of which are appointed by the Friends Council from the ranks of visual art experts; four members are nominated by the director of the Moravian Gallery, who is, due to his function, another member of the jury.

The first laureate of the Michal Ranný Award was Dalibor Chatrný, followed by Miroslav Šnajdr st. and Stanislav Kolíbal. As part of the prize there is a monographic exhibition of the winner and the publishing of a catalogue. The exhibition of the works by the laureate of the Michal Ranný Award takes place in the Moravian Gallery in Brno on the ground floor of the Pražák Palace, which is dedicated to the event.

So far, the latest laureate of the award is Vladimír Skrepl, who, in spite of being one of the most infl uential and respected figures on the Czech art scene since the 1980s, failed to receive due attention on the part of the established art museums. The catalogue issued by the Moravian Gallery on the occasion is actually the first monograph on the artist.