The exhibition jointly organised by the International Cultural Centre and the Olomouc Museum of Art comprised the works of art created in Bohemia and Moravia between 1870 and 1930 and under the patronage of the prominent connoisseurs and collectors of art of the period. 

The exhibition’s title was borrowed from the architectural competition launched by Alexander Koch, the German publisher of magazines on architecture and decorative art, in 1900. The event attracted some of the most outstanding contemporary architects and, consequently, became a symbol of the period characterised by a new understanding of beauty and synthesis of arts, an expression of architectural form and space, and, most importantly, a revival of interest in artistic craft and a birth of modern design. 

The exhibited works (paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, glass, furniture, books, architectural models and designs, among others) were created following the commission of the Moravian and Bohemian connoisseurs and collectors of art such as the Primavesi, Reissig, Müller, and Tugendhat families. They testify to the commissioners’ aesthetic sensitivity and open-mindedness resulting in the creation of works of a thoroughly innovative and original character. The exhibition was not designed as a vivid illustration of the title since it did not offer a display of the interiors of the art lovers’ houses. On the contrary, its aim was to bring back the spirit of the period, to familiarise the visitors with the art of the period – in particular its style, character and iconography – which only hinted at the idea expressed in the exhibition’s title.