Prague can place Mucha’s epic on Wenceslas Square for 25 years
Now this will put an end to the dispute with one of the heirs, John Mucha, and the space will also have a place to display the family collection. The developer, Welwyn, or one of its companies will be in charge of operation and management. This follows from the draft agreement between Prague, the Mucha Foundation and Welwyn, which was approved by the Prague councilors today.
The cycle consists of 20 large canvases, which Mucha painted for 18 years starting in 1910. Since last year, they have been loaned to Moravské Krumlov for the next five years, where they have already been exhibited in the past. “We have a contract with Prague until the end of 2026. By then, Prague wants to find its own exhibition space for the epic, and Savarin Palace is one of the options. With us, the epic is like cotton wool, and if Prague does not have the space, we will be willing to discuss the possible extension of the exhibition in Krumlov,” said Moravian Krumlov mayor Tomáš Třetina (TOP 09).
The term of the lease will be 25 years and the capital will have an option to extend the term of the lease one time for five years under the same terms, unless the city and the developer agree otherwise. According to the wording of the agreement, Welwyn will complete the construction of the permanent exhibition within four years of obtaining a final decision on the location of the Savarin Palace building. The territorial decision was issued in March 2020, but has not yet entered into force.
The agreement brings to an end a years-long dispute between John Mucha and the capital over the ownership of the canvases. If the agreement is signed, according to its wording, Mucha undertakes to recognize the city’s ownership right to the canvases and withdraw its lawsuits within 30 days of the signing. Prague, on the other hand, undertakes not to move the paintings anywhere other than in its own exhibition spaces intended only for the epic, as the painter Alfons Mucha wished.
The exhibition will also include space for the exhibition of the family collection. However, none of the other parts of the permanent exhibition will be allowed to interfere with the artistic impression of the epic, both from a technical and artistic point of view. According to the document, the hall where the epic will take place was supposed to be 23 meters wide and more than 60 meters long. The canvas should be placed opposite each other, with a space of about fifteen meters between them.
Proceeds from the operation of the permanent exhibition, i.e. from the sale of tickets and other activities, will be collected by the operator for Prague, respectively the Gallery of the City of Prague, and the Mucha Foundation. The money will be used to cover the direct costs of running and managing the exhibition. According to the document, the costs of operating the permanent exhibition are calculated at 539 crowns per square meter per month. They include, but are not limited to, the estimated costs of personnel including security and safety, maintenance, which will include other possible restoration and monitoring of the works, or marketing.
The first 11 canvases of the epic were exhibited in Prague’s Klementin in 1919. From 1920 to 1921, she achieved success at exhibitions in New York and Chicago. The entire epic was exhibited for the first time in 1928 in the Veletržní palác in Prague, and the paintings came under the management of the Prague Capital Gallery. In 1933, the canvases were rolled up and stored in a depository. It was not until 1963 that it was exhibited again at the castle in Moravské Krumlov. After 1989, however, the castle, which previously housed, among other things, a railway school, fell into disrepair.
We have updated about the statement of the mayor of Moravsko Krumlov.