The square in Hranice will be adorned with a bronze statue of T.G.M. on horseback
Hranice (Přerovsko) – The School Square in Hranice in the Přerov region should be adorned with a statue of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk on horseback. The equestrian figure by authors Ladislav Sorokáč and Ondřej Tuček, created as a bronze casting, was selected by experts in the architectural and artistic competition announced by the Hranice municipal office this February. A total of 20 proposals were submitted. The life-sized work is expected to cost approximately 3.5 million korunas, and the completion date is not yet known, said municipal spokesperson Petr Bakovský to ČTK.
The statue is to decorate the area in the city’s protected historic zone in front of the basic art school. The surface of the equestrian figure, created from a photograph, features a relief text with Masaryk's thoughts. "The bronze equestrian statue is placed in the middle of the park design of the square and is oriented in such a way that it is clearly visible and distinct from both Farní and Radniční Streets," the municipal spokesperson stated.
The competition was prepared in collaboration with the Czech Chamber of Architects. The expert jury, which included painter Milan Houser and architect Petr Janda, was also impressed by the modern interpretation of the statue in the winning proposal, simplified to an unmistakable flat silhouette of the statesman. According to the jury, the work is a contemporary interpretation of a classical equestrian monument.
Masaryk visited the city twice, and the city has been attempting to restore his monument since the 1990s. His statue was to be unveiled for the first time in October 1938, on the 20th anniversary of Czechoslovakia's founding, specifically at School Square. However, due to political events, it was never installed, and the statue was destroyed during the war. Masaryk’s monument was then unveiled on School Square ten years later. The statue remained there until 1963 and again from May 1968 to October 1974, when it was definitively removed and destroyed.
The city attempted to resurrect the monument several times in the 1990s, but to no avail. The compromise eventually became a bust of Masaryk, which was installed in 2001 in the premises of the Old Town Hall. The current impetus for the revival of the idea for a permanent Masaryk monument in the city was last year’s centenary of the republic and the renovation of the Hranice Art School, Bakovský added. Interested parties can view the proposals for the statues submitted to the competition from June 24 to August 2 in the courtyard of the Hranice Castle.
The statue is to decorate the area in the city’s protected historic zone in front of the basic art school. The surface of the equestrian figure, created from a photograph, features a relief text with Masaryk's thoughts. "The bronze equestrian statue is placed in the middle of the park design of the square and is oriented in such a way that it is clearly visible and distinct from both Farní and Radniční Streets," the municipal spokesperson stated.
The competition was prepared in collaboration with the Czech Chamber of Architects. The expert jury, which included painter Milan Houser and architect Petr Janda, was also impressed by the modern interpretation of the statue in the winning proposal, simplified to an unmistakable flat silhouette of the statesman. According to the jury, the work is a contemporary interpretation of a classical equestrian monument.
Masaryk visited the city twice, and the city has been attempting to restore his monument since the 1990s. His statue was to be unveiled for the first time in October 1938, on the 20th anniversary of Czechoslovakia's founding, specifically at School Square. However, due to political events, it was never installed, and the statue was destroyed during the war. Masaryk’s monument was then unveiled on School Square ten years later. The statue remained there until 1963 and again from May 1968 to October 1974, when it was definitively removed and destroyed.
The city attempted to resurrect the monument several times in the 1990s, but to no avail. The compromise eventually became a bust of Masaryk, which was installed in 2001 in the premises of the Old Town Hall. The current impetus for the revival of the idea for a permanent Masaryk monument in the city was last year’s centenary of the republic and the renovation of the Hranice Art School, Bakovský added. Interested parties can view the proposals for the statues submitted to the competition from June 24 to August 2 in the courtyard of the Hranice Castle.
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