After reconstruction, the exhibition hall Mánes has opened

Snapshot from the 1930s; source NČA

Prague - After a two-year reconstruction, the Mánes exhibition hall partially opened to the public yesterday. The first exhibition hosted by this significant monument of Prague functionalism features the works of illustrator and caricaturist Ivan Steiger. The restaurant in the basement is awaiting completion and is expected to open in the summer.
Mánes belongs to the Foundation of Czech Visual Arts, which funded the reconstruction and is left with a debt after it. The foundation will also create the exhibition program itself. According to the foundation's leadership, artists are interested in exhibiting in this traditional Prague gallery space, but it will be necessary for them to financially contribute to its operation, for example, with the support of sponsors. The foundation also rents out the Mánes spaces for purely commercial purposes.
Currently, the foundation's board is also changing, which has been criticized for a long time by part of the visual arts community for allegedly poorly managing the foundation's assets and not representing the interests of artists. The foundation has always rejected the criticism, stating that the complainers can run for the board themselves, and artistic associations can nominate their representatives. Some of the critics recently ran for the board through the association Skutek, but none of them were elected.
It is not yet clear who has been elected; the foundation's website still lists the previous board's composition. Even the unsuccessful candidates did not find out.
The Mánes building on Masaryk's waterfront was constructed between 1929 and 1930 by the Association of Fine Artists Mánes for exhibitions and as their base. The current reconstruction thus took twice as long as the construction of the new building. The building, in the form of a low block with large glazed surfaces, was designed by architect Otakar Novotný, a student of Jan Kotěra.
The Mánes association operated the building until 1956, when it was forcibly dissolved, and the Czech Foundation of Visual Arts took over the property. The association, revived in 1990, sought to regain the building in court but was unsuccessful. The building now belongs to the foundation, which the courts recognized as the legal successor of the fund.