Praha had legal analyses prepared for the Epos

Prague - The capital city has commissioned legal analyses that state that Prague cannot lose the cycle of paintings, the Slav Epic, even if it does not build a gallery for it. This was stated to journalists today by councilor Milan Richter (ODS). The author of the paintings, Alfons Mucha, wished for the construction of a new gallery. The Epic has been displayed for decades at the castle in Moravian Krumlov, and the leadership of the metropolis wants to relocate it back to Prague.
    "I had analyses prepared so that we could definitively resolve the discussions about whether Prague can lose the Slav Epic, whether it can lend it, and so on," Richter stated. The material was also presented to the Prague councilors at today's meeting. The document contains four legal analyses that, according to the councilor, were prepared by the municipal legal department as well as some law offices.
    Alfons Mucha offered Prague a gift in the form of the planned 20 paintings of the Slav Epic in 1909, which Prague accepted. The condition was that the city would display the work at its own expense in a specially built hall. However, legal analyses, according to Richter, assert that the condition for a separate pavilion is invalid. "We can perceive it as a moral obligation of the capital city, but it has no impact on Prague's ownership rights to the Epic," said the councilor. Allegedly, Mucha's descendants cannot claim rights to the construction of a new exhibition hall either. "Descendants can only demand that the value of the work is not diminished during its handling," Richter asserts.
    The city now wants to negotiate with Mucha's descendants and representatives of the Alfons Mucha Foundation about the possible placement of the Epic in the territory of the metropolis. "We have three options, but the location is still just one, and that is the Exhibition Grounds," noted Richter. The city plans to move the paintings to the Křižík Pavilions, and according to the councilor, the creation of a new pavilion is still in play.
    The Slav Epic is still protected by copyright, which according to the law lasts for 70 years after the author's death. Mucha died in 1939. From January 1, 2010, the Epic will thus become a public domain work, and people will be able to copy it, for example.
    Prague wanted to move the paintings this spring but then extended the loan of the paintings until the end of June. The Krumlov city hall still needs to negotiate with the company Incheba, which rents the Knight's Hall to the city, where the Epic is displayed. Incheba already terminated the lease agreement last year, and the termination will be valid from April.
    The metropolis plans to exhibit the paintings in the Křižík Pavilion at the Exhibition Grounds. However, it needs to be repaired first, and suitable climatic conditions must be ensured. Preparations have not yet begun.
    The Epic has been at the castle in Moravian Krumlov for 45 years. Talks about relocating the canvases displaying scenes from Slavic history back to Prague have been ongoing for a long time. There have been many proposals for where the work should be exhibited, such as the Industrial Palace at the Exhibition Grounds and the Klementinum. Moravian Krumlov would likely have already lost the Epic if a part of the Industrial Palace had not burned down at the Exhibition Grounds last year. Prague is currently negotiating with Incheba about the restoration of the palace, and until an agreement is reached, it does not want to move the Epic to the Exhibition Grounds. According to representatives of Moravian Krumlov, the current facilities at the Exhibition Grounds are unsuitable for presenting the Epic.