Visit to the Mucha Museum- Quiet Day

It was a much nicer day on Saturday April 8.  Sun and cloud and a high of 14C.  We started our day with a visit to the Farmers Market.  What we have found interesting is that there are different vendors there each day with not a lot of overlap.  The coffee vendor we had visited on Wednesday never appeared again nor did one of the bakeries we had gone to earlier in the week.  On Saturday, there were more vendors selling prepared foods than earlier in the week.  There was also a beer tent, some tables set up and a stage in the park.  Some of the shops on the square had small tables outside their shops and people were already eating and drinking in the late morning when we were there.

The Streetburger folks were busy

Lots of sausages

A number of wine and prosecco vendors 

Small tables and tents in the square near the market area

We stopped at the small fish shop on the square where we have been buying our fish.  They were cooking salmon burgers, so Alain and I had them for lunch.  Very tasty.  It was nice to sit outside in the sun after the cold and rain of Friday.

Rybistro fish shop 

Inhaling the salmon burger

We stopped at the French bakery on the square for a baguette and then stopped at MamaCoffee for coffee.  There was a small lineup for coffee.

Alain with his MamaCoffee 

On the way back to the apartment to drop our purchases, we stopped at the fabulous bakery Antoninovo to get some treats.  Another line up--- everyone was out on Saturday.

At the bakery counter

We walked to the Metro, and mistakenly went in the wrong direction.  We got off at the next stop, called Flora, which was a pretty pink.  We then took the Metro back to Old Town.

Flora subway stop

Our destination was the Mucha Museum, a private museum dedicated to the work of Alfons Mucha (known as Alphonse Mucha) (1860-1939).  There was a good introductory film in English and many of his wonderful art nouveau posters, paintings and decorative panels were displayed in the Museum.  As well, there were sketches, other memorabilia and photographs that he had taken of his models and others.  

Outside the Mucha Museum

Mucha was born in 1860 in the town of Ivancice, Moravia.  He had drawn from an early age and was determined to be an artist. In 1871, he was a chorister at the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul in Brno, where he was first exposed to Baroque Art.  In 1879, he moved to Vienna to work for a major Viennese theatrical design company. When his employer's business was destroyed by fire in 1881, he returned to Moravia to do freelance decorative and portrait painting.  He was hired by a Count to decorate a Castle with murals and the Count was so impressed that he agreed to sponsor Mucha's formal training at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Mucha later moved to Paris in 1887 and continued his studies there.  

Mucha then got his big break.  Around Christmas 1894, Mucha happened to go into a print shop where there was an unexpected need for a new advertising poster for a play featuring Sarah Bernhardt.  Mucha volunteered to produce a lithographed poster within two weeks and on January 1, 1895 his poster for the play Gismonda was posted in the city.  It attracted a lot of positive attention.  Bernhardt was so pleased with the success of the first poster that she began a six-year contract with Mucha.   

Mucha was very prolific and produced a flurry of posters, paintings, book illustrations, designs for jewelry and theatre sets.  His work was initially named "The Mucha Style", but became known as Art Nouveau.  His early work featured beautiful young women in flowing robes often surrounded by flowers.  In contrast with other poster makers, he used pale pastels.

His work was shown at the 1900 Universal Exposition in Paris.  Mucha tried to distance himself from the "Art Nouveau" label, as he maintained that his paintings were entirely a product of himself and Czech art.  Mucha lived in New York from 1906-1910.  He wanted to get money to fund his nationalistic projects.  In 1910, he left New York and settled in Prague.  He created murals for the Municipal House.  He also designed postage stamps and banknotes for the new Czech government after WWI.   His masterpiece The Slav Epic, a cycle of 20 large canvases painted from 1910-1928, depicted the history and mythology of the Czech and Slavic people.  In 1928, he donated the paintings to Prague on condition that the city build a special pavilion for it.  This did not happen.   

Mucha's Slav nationalism and Jewish roots made him a target of the Gestapo after the German invasion of Czechoslovakia in March 1939.  He was one of the first persons arrested by the Gestapo.  During his interrogation, he became ill with pneumonia.  He was eventually released, but died on July 14, 1939 due to a lung infection.  The Slav Epic was rolled up and hidden and re-exhibited for the first time in 1963.   His son Jiri (1915-1991) devoted much of his life to writing about him and bringing attention to his artwork.   

The Slav Epic was displayed at a chateau in the Moravian town of Moravsky Krumlov until 2012 when the paintings were moved and are now displayed at the Veletrzni Palace, in an exhibition organized by the National Gallery in Prague.  The move was very controversial and John Mucha, his grandson, who manages the Mucha Museum, recently sued the City of Prague to stop a two year Asian tour of the works, stating they are too fragile to be moved.   My understanding is that the lawsuit was not successful and that The Slav Epic is now being exhibited in Tokyo, the first leg of the tour.

The poster that started it all- Sarah Bernhardt in Gismonda

Zodiac 1896

La Samaritaine 1897

1899

Flower 1897

The Four Arts- 1898

After his return to Prague, Mucha turned to posters portraying Slavic themes.  He also worked on The Slav Epic.

Moravian Teachers Choir poster 1911

Lottery of the Union of Southwestern Moravia- 1912 (supporting Czech education to counter policy of Germanization during Austro-Hungarian Empire)  Figure in background is Cechia, symbolic mother of Czech nation

Poster Advertising the first showing of The Slav Epic- Jaroslava, his daughter, was the model

There were also a number of photographs that Mucha had taken that were very well composed.  We really enjoyed our visit to the museum and have a new appreciation of his work.

After the museum we wandered some more and ran into a parade heading for the Old Town Square.

More workers 

Everyone loves a parade

...with cheerleaders

...and batons

We passed the Cubism Museum and the Grand Cafe Orient, which we had visited earlier in the week.  We located the Black Madonna that gave the building its name:  The House of the Black Madonna.  The statue was high up on a column.

At the House of the Black Madonna (Cubism Museum and Grand Orient Cafe)

Old Town Square had a large stage set up-- seemed to be a pre-Easter celebration.

We were looking for some Czech designers shops but stopped at an interesting clothing shop called "Egoist"-- Alain got a very cool top.  Lots of German, Italian and Spanish lines- a number that I didn't know.  Quite pricey, but definitely some gems.

We decided to try our luck at Lokal for dinner.  We got there at around 7:00 p.m.  The place was packed and there were a lot of reserved tables.  Both locals and visitors eat there, as the menu specials change daily, the food is good, and the prices are very reasonable.  We had a 1/2 pint of very good Pilsner beer (no preservatives added) at the bar.  We ended up talking to three folks from Toronto (although one now lives in LA).  Getting a table to order food was a bit of a challenge but we finally got a table at 7:45.

With beer at the counter waiting for a table

 The restaurant is very long and narrow with the look of a traditional tavern, though it has been modernized.

One wall- Hotel Stal Inn.... hmmm

We both ordered the roast duck with red cabbage and a side of potato dumplings.  The food was very good  and the beer was delicious.

Alain and the duck

We walked back to the Metro and I took some night shots at Old Town Square.  Lots of people  out on a Saturday night and the weather was warmer.

Old Town Square

Kiosks stay open late

Decorated building in Old Town Square

We had tea and dessert at the apartment.  Sunday April 9 is the last day of our vacation.  I may do my last post of the blog on Sunday evening or it may have to wait until our return on Monday April 10.  We have a very early 7:00 a.m. flight to Amsterdam, a three hour wait, and then our return flight to Toronto.  Lukas is picking us up at 5:00 a.m!  We have really enjoyed our week in Prague, exploring many different neighbourhoods, taking in all the beautiful buildings, and enjoying its rich history.