{"id":327,"date":"2011-03-20T16:19:26","date_gmt":"2011-03-20T14:19:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/?p=327"},"modified":"2017-06-06T16:40:53","modified_gmt":"2017-06-06T16:40:53","slug":"a-tug-of-war-over-the-slav-epic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2011\/03\/20\/a-tug-of-war-over-the-slav-epic\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tug of War over the Slav Epic"},"content":{"rendered":"

As mentioned in the previous posting, I am an avid admirer of Mucha’s work.\u00a0 It was not until visiting the Mucha Museum that I became aware of Mucha’s great work called the Slav Epic.\u00a0 They consist of 20 panels, some as tall as 10 feet.<\/p>\n

From Wikipedia:<\/p>\n

Mucha spent many years working on The Slav Epic cycle, which he considered his life’s finest masterpiece. He had dreamed of completing a series such as this, a celebration of Slavic history, since the turn of the 19th century, however, his plans were limited by financial constraints. In 1909, he managed to obtain grants by an American philanthropist and a keen admirer of the Slavic culture, a Mr. Charles Richard Crane.\u00a0 Mucha began by visiting the places which he intended to depict in the cycle, such as Russia, Poland and the Balkans, including the Orthodox monasteries of Mount Athos.\u00a0 Additionally, he consulted historians about the details of historical events in order to ensure an accurate depiction. In 1910, he began working on the series.\u00a0 Mucha continued working on them for 18 years. He gradually handed over the finished paintings to the city of Prague for display with the idea that a proper building would be built to house them.<\/em><\/p>\n

Following the Czechoslovak coup de etat of 1948 and subsequent communist takeover of the country, Mucha was considered a decadent and bourgeois artist, estranged from the ideas of socialist realism. The building of a special pavilion for the exposition of the cycle became irrelevant and unimportant for the new regime.\u00a0 After the war, the paintings were moved to Moravska Krumlov by a group of local patriots where they went on display in 1963\u00a0 in the chateau and are there still.<\/p>\n

Below is an example of one of the panels:\"Example<\/a>To see all of the panels you can go to this site:\u00a0http:\/\/www.muchafoundation.org\/gallery\/themes\/theme\/slav-epic<\/a>\u00a0(On the site click on each photo for an enlargement.)<\/p>\n

Last winter we spent 3 months in Prague.\u00a0 We decided make the journey to Moravsky, which is about 216 km away from Prague, requiring a train or bus journey.\u00a0 Thank goodness I did some inquiries about the days and times the chateau would be open because I discovered it was closed during the winter months!\u00a0 I was extremely disappointed and\u00a0 wondered why they weren’t here in Prague, where they could easily be viewed by so many, instead of in a remote chateau that wasn’t even open year around.<\/p>\n

After returning home to Greece I started reading the Prague Post on-line.\u00a0 How amazing!\u00a0 Articles started to surface regarding Mucha and the possible relocation of the panels to Prague!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I was enthralled and without another thought I took sides that they should be relocated to Prague.<\/p>\n

The subject became quite controversial.\u00a0 Each side suing the other and obtaining last minute restraining orders from the courts.\u00a0 Points of contention included how they should be housed, what kind of building would be required, if they could even be legally moved, who owned them!\u00a0 The Mayor of\u00a0 Moravsky Krumlov was not going to give in easily.\u00a0 He said that they brought in revenue of which the town had become dependent.\u00a0 Guess that would be a concern and a valid argument.<\/p>\n

As the year progressed, the arguments grew quite interesting, at least to me.\u00a0 I saw it as a total tug of war.\u00a0 One week had the media reporting that the Epic will NOT be moved as no place in Prague was yet built to house them, as promised, (true) and no existing building would be acceptable.\u00a0 Then Mucha’s grandson retaliated saying he will fight government officials to the very end to have his grandfather’s hopes of having the Slav Epic collection housed at a suitable location in Prague.\u00a0 He felt honor bound to do as his grandfather would have wanted.\u00a0 Another admirable argument.<\/p>\n

Months later the ownership argument resurfaced–who actually owned the paintings, even going so far as to mention the American, Mr. Randolph, who gave the money in the first place for them to be painted!\u00a0 (I saw this as a stalling tactic, as Mr. Randolph is no longer alive and would take a long time to sort that one out).\u00a0\u00a0 Then Japan jumped in.\u00a0 They would be happy to restore and display them in Japan!\u00a0 That brought a quick No!\u009d from both sides, fearing if they left the country something unforeseen could happen and they might not be returned.\u00a0 (A good decision, in my opinion.)\u00a0 The tug of war went on until it became laughable.\u00a0 Neither side would budge or cooperate.<\/p>\n

Then suddenly all was quiet on the front until the 14th of March when the Prague Post released this article:<\/p>\n

\u02dcFive paintings from Alphons Mucha’s famous Slav Epic are to go on<\/em>
\n display at Prague’s Veletrzni Palac (Trade Fair Palace) in April, according to the head of\u00a0the Prague Municipal Gallery which is now in charge of them. The first<\/em>
\n five paintings from the 20-piece epic were relocated to Prague a month<\/em>
\n ago despite protests from the town of Moravsky Krumlov which has housed<\/em>
\n the collection for the last 47 years. The rest are to follow in the<\/em>
\n autumn.\u00a0 The Prague Municipal Gallery says the paintings<\/em>
\n are in very good condition and is awaiting permission to start<\/em>
\n restoration work expected to last no more than a fortnight.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

From russianculture.wordpress.com<\/p>\n

So, there you are! The tug of war is finally over, and Prague has won.\u00a0\u00a0 I am over the moon because when we go to Prague this fall, I will finally be able to view them!\u00a0 A totally selfish wish on my part, however it will benefit many as they can now be seen year around.<\/p>\n

How to get to the the Veletrzni Palac\u00a0 (Trade Fair Building):<\/p>\n

Address:<\/strong> Veletrzni Palace (Trade Fair Palace), Dukelskych hrdinu 47,
\nHow to get there:<\/strong> Tram 5, 12 or 17 to Veletr<\/strong>\u00a0or metro red line C to Vltavska<\/strong>
\nPhone:<\/strong> +420 224 301 111,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As mentioned in the previous posting, I am an avid admirer of Mucha’s work.\u00a0 It was not until visiting the Mucha Museum that I became aware of Mucha’s great work called the Slav Epic.\u00a0 They consist of 20 panels, some … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[9,14,13],"tags":[52,48,5,49,50,51],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2MK34-5h","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":320,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2011\/03\/14\/a-journey-over-many-years\/","url_meta":{"origin":327,"position":0},"title":"A Journey over Many Years","author":"Karin","date":"March 14, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"It all happened a long time ago probably in the 1980's.\u00a0 When my daughter was about 12 years old she wanted her bedroom to have a new, grownup look.\u00a0 We researched various different styles, added some new furniture and found the perfect picture for the wall.\u00a0 It was a print\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Places"","block_context":{"text":"Places","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/places\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Four Seasons by Mucha","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/alphonse-mucha-the-four-seasons.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1178,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2014\/02\/11\/art-nouveau\/","url_meta":{"origin":327,"position":1},"title":"Art Nouveau at its Finest","author":"Michael","date":"February 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"The dry sounding Museum of Decorative Arts is not the most visited in Prague while the prominent Municipal House is seen by nearly everyone who comes to Prague. For the thankfully long period of November 2013 through December 2015 they have combined to create an outstanding exhibition. Many of our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/ArtNouveauFurniture-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":875,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2013\/05\/05\/one-month-nuts-and-bolts-and-entertainment\/","url_meta":{"origin":327,"position":2},"title":"One Month: Nuts and Bolts and Entertainment","author":"Michael","date":"May 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We have been in our new Prague apartment for four weeks now and I have been\u00a0negligent\u00a0in posting, as\u00a0usual. \u00a0We have been on the go a lot but mostly to uninteresting places to shop for our apartment or ourselves. Yet, Prague being such an interesting city we have been out to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/AprilBlossoms-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":415,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2011\/11\/27\/beer-beers-and-more-beers\/","url_meta":{"origin":327,"position":3},"title":"Beer, Beers, and more Beers","author":"Michael","date":"November 27, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"We had some young friends visiting from England who wanted to try typical Czech food along with a selection of Czech beers.\u00a0 So I consulted my\u00a0favorite\u00a0web site for such matters:\u00a0 Prague Beer Garden\u00a0 We chose Pivovarsky Klub because one of us wanted to try banana beer which they had.\u00a0 We\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Places"","block_context":{"text":"Places","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/places\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1200,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2014\/04\/17\/travel-advisory-good-bad\/","url_meta":{"origin":327,"position":4},"title":"Travel Advisory: Good & Bad","author":"Michael","date":"April 17, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"U Vejvod\u016f\u00a0 is a large and busy pub\/restaurant in the center of Prague's tourist area near Old Town Square. \u00a0On their home page they write: \"During our operation of this restaurant we have received several pleasant evaluations in the form of letters of thanks from the highest representatives of our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/events\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/EasterMarket-220x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":516,"url":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/2012\/05\/16\/missing-prague\/","url_meta":{"origin":327,"position":5},"title":"Missing Prague","author":"Michael","date":"May 16, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"We have not been posting due to the joys of travel:\u00a0 visiting friends and family, time consumed on the road, irregular internet service and the like.\u00a0 We are now settling into a new, if temporary, home in Ennis, Ireland.\u00a0 So here is a post. As we have written before we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Reviews"","block_context":{"text":"Reviews","link":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/category\/places\/reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=327"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9359,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/327\/revisions\/9359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=327"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=327"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/parosparadise.com\/CzechMates\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=327"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}