Art Historian
Helena’s research is centered on the 'long 19th century' and the 1900s period in British, European and Japanese art, including the Pre-Raphaelites, Victorian art, Art Nouveau, Secession, and the study of cultural transfer and internationalism.
Helena’s on-going PhD research at the University of York deals with the reception of British art in Bohemia (nowadays Czech Republic) around 1900. While Bohemia’s connection to Austria, Germany and France has been explored in great depth in previous scholarship, the response to British art in Bohemia is a rarely addressed topic. Helena is very passionate about uncovering this new angle of looking at Bohemian Art Nouveau, linking it to Victorian and Pre-Raphaelite art. This also enables Helena to showcase Bohemian art around 1900 in its European context, exploring fin de siècle Europe as a lively network of international influences and intercultural communications.
During her BA, Helena focused on Czech/ Bohemian Art Nouveau and 1900s painting and sculpture. For her MA, Helena researched a collection of traditional Japanese toys, linking them to the vibrant culture of Meiji Japan (post 1868). This included the opening of Japan to the West, and exploring the multi-faceted response of Japanese arts and crafts to the new aesthetic approach represented by overseas trends.
The research projects Helena carried out for the Czech National Museum included the influence of Japanese woodcut prints on Euro-American art, the study of Japanese traditional toys, and research on Buddhist art objects in European collections. Helena often returns to these topics when giving public talks (Japan Society North West, Doki Doki Manchester festival etc). She is especially fascinated by the colour woodcut print artists working towards the end of the century, such as Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, who had actively engaged with Western art.
Selected bibliography:
Alžběta Siddalová and the Czech Rossetti (chapter) in Pre-Raphaelite Sisters: Art, Poetry and Female Agency in Victorian Britain, ed. Glenda Youde & Robert Wilkes, Peter Lang, 2022.
Curator Q & A with Helena Cox - Friends of York Art Gallery, A series of dialogues with Judith Glover, 2021.
Book of Changes by Kamila Ženatá – immersive video-art exhibition. Exhibition catalogue. East Riding Museums / Czech Centre London, 2019
Rhythms in Sculpture by David Sprakes. Exhibition catalogue. East Riding Museums, 2018
Legacy by Paul Clifford. Exhibition catalogue. Co-author David Marchant. East Riding Museums, 2018
Invisibility - Kamila Ženatá. Exhibition catalogue, bi-lingual (Czech and English), Prague, 2016
Hrajeme si cely den (Playing all day long) National Museum, 2014 (co-author Alice Kraemerová)
Playing all day long - Japanese traditional Toys from the Náprstek Museum Collection in Prague, 159 p., National Museum, 2013 (co-author Alice Kraemerová), ISBN 978-80-7036-389-8. Translated by Helena Gaudekova.
Buddhas, Bódhisattvas and Deities - Japanese Buddhist Art from the Náprstek Museum, National Museum, 2012 (co-author Alice Kraemerová). Translated by Valerie Talacko and Helena Gaudekova.
Folding Screens in the Japanese Collection of the Náprstek Museum, Annals of Naprstek Museum, National Museum 2014, 35/ 2, ppg. 95-136 (coauthor A. Kraemerova)
A Selection from the Japanese Collection 2013, CD-ROM catalogue, National Museum, 2013, ISBN 978-80-7036-405-5
Nuances of Beauty - Yoshitoshi's Concept of Women as a Reflection of Contemporary Society, Annals of NpM, National Museum 2013, 34/ 1, pp. 4359, ISSN 0231-844X
Decadent Eccentric and Poetic Moon viewer, Annals of the Náprstek Museum 33/ 2012, National Museum, ppg. 51-84 (co-author: A.Kraemerová)
Buddhas, Bódhisattvas and Deities - Japanese Buddhist Art from the Náprstek Museum, CD-ROM catalogue, National Museum, 2012 (co-author Alice Kraemerová)
Buddhist Art Objects in the Japanese Collection of the Náprstek Museum, Prague, in: Japanese Collections in European Museums, Vol. IV: Buddhist Art, Tomoe Irene Maria Steineck, Josef Kreiner, and Raji C, Steineck (eds.), Reports from the International Symposium ,,Japanese Buddhist Objects in European Collections and Their Impact on the European Image of Japan", Palace Lochov, Poland 2012, Bonn, Bier'sche Verlahsanstalt, pp. 243-258. (co-author Alice Kraemerová)
A provocative testimony on 19th century art. 04/ 2012 Artalk.cz
Men and machines in 19th century Czech culture - Art History Society Bulletin 1/ 2012, ppg. 27-29
Surimono, Art+Antiques, 04/2012, ppg. 54-57
Yoshitoshi's Prints in the Japanese Collection of the Náprstek Museum/ Jositosiho tisky v japonské sbírce Náprstkova muzea. Prague, National Museum 2011.CD-ROM. Co-author Alice Kraemerova. ISBN 978-80-7036-327-0.
Japan and its traditional theatre in the work of Emil Orlik, DISK 29, A journal devoted to performing arts and traditional theatre forms, September 2009, ppg. 147-154
The Peterka House and its sculptural decoration, Kotera rulez - I. Bulletin of the Kot?ra centre, Prague 2009, ppg. 6-11
Orlik's Japanese Master: Kanó Tomonobu, Obrazar, section 20th Century Art, Obrazar.com, 2009
Helen Hyde - an American in Japan, Obrazar, section 20th Century Art, Obrazar.com, 2009
The Orient seen through the eyes of a wealthy American - Bertha Lum, Obrazar , section 19th Century Art, Obrazar.com, 2009
Japanese sceneries in Bohemia (co-author R. Prahl), DISK 23, A journal devoted to performing arts and traditional theatre, March 2008, ppg. 152- 154