Epic Tale

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The Slav Epic, which chronicles the history of the Slavic people, finally goes on show in the Czech capital this month, more than 80 years after its painter Alphonse Mucha gifted his masterpiece to the city.

"He wanted it to be in Prague, so that's where it should be," says the artist's grandson, John Mucha, president of the Alphonse Mucha Foundation. It hasn't been an easy journey, though.

The Slav Epic was given to Prague in 1928 by the artist on the condition the city build a special pavilion to house the paintings. But the pavilion was never built, and the canvasses ended up in the small hamlet of Morvasky Krumlov, about 250 km south of Prague, where they went on display in the town's crumbling chateau.

The move was supposed to be a temporary stopover, but as the years went by, interest in the Slav Epic faded away, until 2010 when the paintings started creeping back into newspaper headlines.

Prague belatedly laid claim to Mucha's artwork but Morvasky Krumlov's fierce devotion to the paintings was greatly underestimated. For the last three years the South Moravian town waged a tireless battle against the Czech capital for rights to the Slav Epic. Eventually the courts sided with Prague, which argued that Morvasky Krumlov was ill-equipped to house such a national treasure.

His grandson thinks Mucha would have been horrified by all the fuss. "He would have been shocked by the trouble he had created for Prague and he would have taken the paintings back."

Mucha spent nearly two decades, from 1910 to 1928, working on what he considered to be the greatest masterpiece of his life. The 20 giant canvases, most measuring six metres tall and eight metres wide, are a celebration of Slavic history and an ode to his homeland.

But more specifically, his grandson says, the Slav Epic "is about the fundamental forces that drive people forward." The themes displayed in the paintings centre around nationhood and identity, religion and peace. Mucha travelled extensively throughout the Balkans and Russia gathering ideas and images for his epic work.

In 1921, before the painting cycle was fully completed, five of the paintings went on tour to the delight of art lovers in Chicago and New York. But while the painter's work was heavily praised overseas, the fanfare at home was fleeting and the full painting cycle was only briefly exhibited in Prague, and disappointingly, the city was unwilling to provide permanent exhibition space.

Crushed by the diluted reception, Alphonse Mucha died in 1939 a few months after enduring a brutal interrogation by the Gestapo. His canvases were rolled up during World War II and tucked away for safekeeping. They would remain out of sight for 30 years, resurfacing on the walls of the Morvasky Krumlov chateau in 1963.

"It was only a temporary solution but it threatened the durability of the artwork," explains Prague's cultural councillor Ondrej Pecha. "Mucha created it at the end of the Secession period but by the time he finished it, art nouveau was on its way out and the work wasn't appreciated by the art world in the way it deserved".

Mucha's grandson John concurs. "Imagine creating something you think is the pinnacle of your creative process," he says. "You give it to the nation and the work is ridiculed for being rubbish."

Prague still has not secured a permanent home for the Slav Epic but the exhibition at the Trade Fair Palace, the National Gallery's centre for modern and contemporary art, is a timely recognition of its cultural and historical significance, says Pecha: "Mucha dedicated his work to Prague when he painted it, and that's where it belongs. We want to finally exhibit it here just as he first presented it in 1928. We are finally fulfilling the artist's wish. This is such an important work of art it deserves to be displayed in the National Gallery."

Following the two-year run at the Trade Fair Palace, it looks like the paintings could end up at the main train station (Praha hlavni nadrazi), which is currently undergoing extensive renovation. The location has the Mucha family's blessing. "It would be the first time ever that the pictures would be shown in order," says John Mucha. "Prague now has a unique opportunity to show the whole story."

The plan is to hang the canvases in the Fanta café, once the stunning art nouveau backdrop of the railway station's entrance hall. The city hopes to restore the café to its original splendour and hang the Slav Epic along its walls by the spring of 2014. Other mementos including photographs of the artist at work on his masterpiece would also be on display.

Finally, 80 years after his death, Alphonse Mucha's greatest work will find a home where he always intended it to be.

Slav Epic: Myth, History and Vision, Trade Fair Palace (Veletrzni palac) Dukelskych hrdinu 47, Prague 7. www.muchafoundation.org; www.ngprague.cz

FR
Épopée des Slaves

Après une longue dispute juridique, une série de 20 peintures monumentales du maître de l'art nouveau Alfons Mucha fait ses débuts très attendus au Palais des expositions de Prague.

Par Julie O'Shea

L'artiste a fait don de l'Épopée des Slaves à Prague en 1928, à la condition que la ville construise un pavillon spécial pour accueillir les tableaux. Mais ce pavillon ne vit jamais le jour et les toiles terminèrent dans le petit hameau de Morvasky Krumlov, à environ 250 km de Prague, où elles furent exposées dans le château délabré du village.

Cette situation provisoire s'éternisa tandis qu'avec les années, l'intérêt pour l'Épopée des Slaves s'estompait, jusqu'en 2010 où la presse raviva l'intérêt pour ces toiles.

Prague réclama tardivement les oeuvres de Mucha, sous-estimant largement la farouche dévotion de Morvasky Krumlov envers ces tableaux. Voilà trois ans que ce village de Moravie du Sud mène une lutte acharnée pour conserver ses droits sur l'Épopée des Slaves, mais le tribunal vient de trancher : Prague hébergera ce trésor national.

Mucha a passé près de 20 ans, de 1910 à 1928, à la réalisation de l'une de ses plus grandes oeuvres : 20 toiles géantes, de six mètres par huit pour la plupart, qui célèbrent l'histoire slave, véritable ode à sa terre natale.

En 1921, cinq d'entre elles partirent en tournée au grand ravissement des amateurs d'art de Chicago et New York. Mais au pays, la série ne fut que brièvement exposée à Prague, la ville n'étant pas disposée à fournir un espace d'exposition permanent.

Mortifié par cette piètre réception, Alfons Mucha mourut dans l'amertume en 1939. Ses toiles restèrent au placard durant 25 ans pour refaire surface sur les murs du château de Morvasky Krumlov en 1963.

Aujourd'hui, enfin, 80 ans après sa mort, l'oeuvre d'Alfons Mucha retrouvera le foyer auquel elle était destinée depuis toujours.

L'Épopée des Slaves : mythe, histoire et vision, Palais des Expositions (Veletrzni palac), Dukelskych hrdinu 47, Prague 7. www.muchafoundation.org ; www.ngprague.cz

NL
Slavisch Epos

Na een verhitte discussie over het beheer is deze schilderijenreeks van art-nouveaumeester Alfons Mucha eindelijk te bewonderen in het Praagse Veletrzni Palac.

Door Julie O'Shea

De kunstenaar schonk het Slavisch Epos in 1928 aan Praag, op voorwaarde dat de stad er een paviljoen voor zou bouwen. Dat paviljoen werd nooit gebouwd en de doeken kwamen terecht in een bouwvallig kasteel in Moravsky Krumlov, 250 km ten zuiden van Praag.

De verhuis zou maar tijdelijk zijn, maar met de jaren verwaterde de interesse voor het Slavisch Epos, tot het in 2010 weer de krantenkoppen haalde.

Praag wilde de creaties van Mucha dan toch tentoonstellen, maar het gehucht Moravsky Krumlov leverde drie jaar lang strijd om het Slavisch Epos te kunnen behouden. De rechter oordeelde echter dat Praag deze nationale kunstschat beter kon huisvesten.

Mucha spendeerde haast twee decennia (1910-1928) aan dit eerbetoon in 20 monumentale doeken (de meeste zijn zes meter hoog en acht meter breed) aan de Slavische geschiedenis en aan zijn vaderland. In 1921 gingen vijf schilderijen op tournee - tot groot genoegen van kunstliefhebbers in Chicago en New York. In Praag kregen de werken echter niet veel aandacht en ze werden er slechts kort tentoongesteld. Een permanente tentoonstellingsruimte vond de stad niet nodig.

Alfons Mucha overleed in 1939. Zijn doeken bleven 25 jaar lang onzichtbaar, tot ze in 1963 weer opdoken, aan de muren van het kasteel van Moravsky Krumlov.

Nu, 80 jaar na zijn dood, krijgt Alfons Mucha eindelijk zijn zin.

Slavisch Epos: mythe, geschiedenis en visie, Veletrzni Palac, Dukelskych hrdinu 47, Praag 7. www.muchafoundation.org; www.ngprague.cz

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