Articles

Upcoming Visit to the Veletržní Palace Museum of Art

UPCES students are in for a treat on Friday, April 18th, as we venture to one of Prague's most beloved art centers,  the Veletržní Palace Museum of Art.

The Veletržní Palace is home to the National Gallery's rich collection of 19th, 20th, and 21st century art. The huge museum presents works from some of the greatest European artists: Delacroix, Carpeaux, Rodin, Courbet, Monet, Pissaro, Gauguin, Cézanne, Picasso’s Paris works, Derain, Klimt, Schiele, and Miró.

Details about the UPCES visit to the museum can be found on the Facebook event.

Alphonse Mucha and The Slav Epic

In addition to viewing the permanent collection, students have a special opportunity to see the famous painting serious by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha called The Slave Epic. This renowned cycle of 20 monumental canvases depicting Slavic mythology is now on display for the first time in Prague in 80 years.

Prague wouldn't be the same without Alphonse Mucha, perhaps the most famous Czech artist from the turn of the century. Mucha played a major role in shaping the aesthetics of Art Nouveau, and his influence can be seen all over the Czech capital (and Europe) today.

Born in 1860 in Ivancice, Moravia, Mucha achieved immediate fame in December 1894 when he accepted a commission to create a poster for Sarah Bernhardt, one of the greatest actresses of this time. So began ´Le style Mucha´, as Art Nouveau was known in its earliest days.

Mucha was a serious Czech patriot. He considered his artistic success a triumph for the Czech people. Some of his commissioned works include a series of murals for the Lord Mayor's Hall in Prague and a work of stained glass in Prague Castle's St. Vitus Cathedral. He also created "The  Epic" - a series of great paintings chronicling major events in the history of Slavic people. This project took 18 years of his life, culminating in twenty massive canvasses in 1928.