Abstract
This publication defines the status of artists as a social group in the development of the Prague art scene during the 19th century. It points out the efforts made by artists with a view to building up a specific position for themselves, an ambivalent status setting them apart from the time's majority society, either virtually or really.
Major text by Roman Prahl is divided into five parts: The Fringe of the Crowd and Its Artistic Visualization, A Panorama of Industrial Society: Its Bright and Dark Sides, The Disfavoured and Charity: The Traditions of Christianity and the Enlightenment, Oppression and Resistance: A Critique of the Status Quo, Alone on the Fringe of the Crowd. Artists' Standpoints and Views.
The essay entitled A Binge at the Dawn of a New Epoch. Further texts: Notes on the Bohemian Phenomenon, by Eva Bendova and Sculptors and Proletarians, by Ivana Jonakova