A visit to the National Gallery of Prague was very worthwhile.
But the thing I most wanted to see in Prague was Alfons Mucha's "Epic of the Slav People," 20 monumental canvases conceived as a monument to the Slav peoples. Although all most people know of Mucha are his sinuous Art Nouveau posters advertising cigarettes and liquor, revived in the 1960s, Mucha spent half his career working on these paintings, the largest of which is 6 x 8 meters. The work was underwritten for 20 years by Charles Richard Crane (1858-1939), a wealthy Chicago-based businessman and philanthropist. The works were given to the city of Prague in 1928 as a gift to the nation, on the 10th anniversary of its independence. Be sure to click each image so you can see a larger version and appreciate the details.
"The Man with the Cane" (1909) by Max Oppenheimer
"Prague - Charles Bridge' (1934) by Oskar Kolkoschka
Rene Lalique vase, 1920-24
"Lady with a Muff" (1916-17) by Gustav Klimt
"Underground Railway" (1899) by Loir Luigi
But the thing I most wanted to see in Prague was Alfons Mucha's "Epic of the Slav People," 20 monumental canvases conceived as a monument to the Slav peoples. Although all most people know of Mucha are his sinuous Art Nouveau posters advertising cigarettes and liquor, revived in the 1960s, Mucha spent half his career working on these paintings, the largest of which is 6 x 8 meters. The work was underwritten for 20 years by Charles Richard Crane (1858-1939), a wealthy Chicago-based businessman and philanthropist. The works were given to the city of Prague in 1928 as a gift to the nation, on the 10th anniversary of its independence. Be sure to click each image so you can see a larger version and appreciate the details.
Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria, who supported Moravian translators making a Slavonic version of the New Testament
Coronation of Serbian Tsar Štěpán Dušan, who expanded Slavic territories in the 1300s and fought against the Byzantine Empire
Detail of prior painting
Detail of The Printing of the Bible of Kralice in Ivančice (1914)
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