Muchovo muzeum | |
 Kounice Palace | |
| Established | 13 February 1998 |
|---|---|
| Location | Kounice Palace , Prague, Czech Republic |
| Type | Art Museum |
| Director | Sebastian Pawlowski |
| Website | www |
The Mucha Museum is a museum in Prague, Czech Republic, housing a collection of works by Alphonse Mucha.
According to Geraldine Mucha, the original idea for the Mucha Museum came after the Velvet Revolution. A Swiss entrepreneur had bought and renovated Kounice Palace , under condition from the Prague government it be used for a cultural purpose. He approached Geraldine Mucha with the idea for a gallery of Mucha works. [1] The museum was opened in 1998 by the Mucha Foundation, containing works exclusively from the Mucha Trust Collection. [2]
The Mucha Foundation eventually sought to find a new location for the gallery, as the size of the old premises caused crowding issues. [3] The chosen site was a section of the historic Savarin Palace double the size of the current site. [3] [4] The Palace Complex was being renovated by real estate developer Crestyl, led by architect Thomas Heatherwick. [4] The section of the palace set for the Mucha Museum was remodeled by Czech architect Eva Jiřičná. [3] [5]
At the new site, previously unexhibited Mucha works will be presented, including draft sketches for the Slav Epic. [4] The new location will have a exhibition space of 1,100 square metres (12,000 sq ft), and is set to open on 24 January 2025. [3] [5]
Sebastian Pawlowski, director of the Mucha Museum stated that he would not be moving location, and the Savarin Palace location was a separate project. When asked if he had the right to continue using the name, he stated "it is probably for the new place in Palace Savarin to wonder if it has the right to call itself the same as the original". [4] By May 2024, the Mucha Foundation had fully cut ties with Pawlowski, and stated any exhibitions at the Mucha Museum were unauthorized. [5]
The gallery primarily contains works from Mucha's later period, and holds objects from Mucha's studio. [2] Collections include The Four Arts cycle, The Four Times of the Day, The Four Seasons, several original poster prints, and several original advertisement prints. [6]
Art Nouveau, Jugendstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and flowers. Other characteristics of Art Nouveau were a sense of dynamism and movement, often given by asymmetry or whiplash lines, and the use of modern materials, particularly iron, glass, ceramics and later concrete, to create unusual forms and larger open spaces. It was popular between 1890 and 1910 during the Belle Époque period, and was a reaction against the academicism, eclecticism and historicism of 19th century architecture and decorative art.
Alfons Maria Mucha, known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist. Living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, he was widely known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.
Jiří Mucha was a Czech journalist, writer, screenwriter, author of autobiographical novels and studies of the works of his father, the painter Alphonse Mucha.
Prague Castle is a castle complex in Prague, Czech Republic serving as the official residence and workplace of the president of the Czech Republic. Built in the 9th century, the castle has long served as the seat of power for kings of Bohemia, Holy Roman emperors, and presidents of Czechoslovakia. As such, the term "Prague Castle" or simply the "Castle" or "the Hrad" are often used as metonymy for the president and his staff and advisors. The Bohemian Crown Jewels are kept within a hidden room inside it.
The National Gallery Prague, formerly the National Gallery in Prague, is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Czech and international fine art in permanent and temporary exhibitions. The collections of the gallery are not housed in a single building, but are presented in a number of historic structures within the city of Prague, as well as other places. The largest of the gallery sites is the Trade Fair Palace, which houses the National Gallery's collection of modern art. Other important exhibition spaces are located in the Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia, the Kinský Palace, the Salm Palace, the Schwarzenberg Palace, the Sternberg Palace, and the Wallenstein Riding School. Founded in 1796, it is one of the world's oldest public art galleries and one of the largest museums in Central Europe.
The National Technical Museum (NTM) in Prague is the largest institution dedicated to preserving information and artifacts related to the history of technology in the Czech Republic. The museum has large exhibits representing approximately 15% of its total collection. The museum also manages substantial archives consisting of approximately 3,500 linear shelf meters of archival material and about 250,000 books. The museum was founded in 1908 and has been in its current location since 1941.
Municipal House is a civic building that houses Smetana Hall, a celebrated concert venue, in Prague, Czech Republic. It is located on Náměstí Republiky next to the Powder Gate in the centre of the city.
Roger Kohn is a designer and author. He studied with Rowan Gillespie at York School of Art and is the Irish sculptor's biographer.
The Museum of Communism, located at V Celnici 4 in Prague, Czech Republic, is a museum dedicated to presenting an account of the post–World War II communist regime in Czechoslovakia, with a focus on Prague.
Alexandr Onishenko, Czech: Alexandr Oniščenko is an artist based in Prague, Czech Republic. Well known for his vibrant impressionist paintings, his work is exhibited throughout Europe and the United States.
The Slav Epic is a cycle of 20 large canvases painted by Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha between 1910 and 1928. The cycle depicts the mythology and history of Czechs and other Slavic peoples. In 1928, after finishing his monumental work, Mucha bestowed the cycle upon the city of Prague on the condition that the city build a special pavilion for it.
Founded in 1885, the Prague Museum of Decorative Arts is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice built from 1897 to 1899 after the designs of architect Josef Schulz. It opened in 1900 with exhibitions on the first floor. The museum's rich collections include decorative and applied arts and design work ranging from Late Antiquity to the present day with focus on European objects, particularly arts and crafts created in the Bohemian lands. The impressive interior of the permanent exhibition, "Stories of Materials," offers visitors an excursion into the history and development of decorative arts in the disciplines of glass, ceramics, graphic art, design, metal, wood and other materials, as well as objects such as jewellery, clocks and watches, textiles, fashion, toys and furniture.
Geraldine Thomson Mucha was a Scottish composer.
Czech art is the visual and plastic arts that have been created in the Czech Republic and the various states that formed the Czech lands in the preceding centuries. The Czech lands have produced artists that have gained recognition throughout the world, including Alfons Mucha, widely regarded as one of the key exponents of the Art Nouveau style, and František Kupka, a pioneer of abstract art.
Stanislav Hanzík was a contemporary Czech sculptor. He is especially known for free sculptures, portraits, and realizations together with architects.
Jaroslava Muchová Syllabová was a Czech painter, the daughter of painter Alphonse Mucha and the sister of writer and translator Jiří Mucha.
Art Nouveau posters and graphic arts flourished and became an important vehicle of the style, thanks to the new technologies of color lithography and color printing, which allowed the creation of and distribution of the style to a vast audience in Europe, the United States and beyond. Art was no longer confined to art galleries, but could be seen on walls and illustrated magazines.
The Seasons or Four Seasons is the name of three different color lithograph series produced by Czech visual artist Alphonse Mucha. They were produced in 1896, 1897, and 1900.
The Trade Fair Palace is a functionalist building in Prague-Holešovice, Czech Republic. It currently serves as the largest gallery site of the National Gallery Prague. It was originally constructed in 1925 to serve as a hall for trade fairs, however it was closed after a six day long fire broke out in 1974. Soon after the fire it was given to the National Gallery Prague, and finally reopened in 1995. The building is notable as the first functionalist building in Prague, and the largest functionalist building at the time of its construction.