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Karel Hašler playing a guitar statue on the Prague Old Castle Steps

Karel Hašler

Famous Czechs – Karel Hašler Every year thousands of people are walking up or down the Old Castle Steps at the back of Prague Castle and at the top of the steps they walk past (and briefly look at) a sculpture of a man with his legs crossed, leaning against the wall and playing a … Read More

prague cafe louvre interior with customers and waitresses serving tables

Prague Cafes – Cafe Louvre

Prague Cafes – Cafe Louvre I often tell the story that in the early days with my wife when we stopped at Cafe Louvre she would say “that’s the former foreign minister” or “that was the chief of police”. By the time I looked around I would just see the back of somebody’s head. But … Read More

jaroslav rona bronze sculpture sitting devil on the old town square in 2017

Jaroslav Rona Sculptures

Jaroslav Rona Sculptures Born in 1957 you could say that by the age of 15 Jaroslav Rona knew that he wanted to be some kind of artist. He applied to various arts schools and was rejected so having completed his basic 9 years of education he enrolled in a 3 year vocational school to train … Read More

alfons mucha slav epic

Slav Epic Part One

Slav Epic Part One – Introduction and Location The Slav Epic is a huge piece of work whether you look at it from a perspective of the number of paintings i.e. twenty, the size of the paintings (6 of the paintings would cover the front of a terraced house in England, including the roof), the … Read More

Slav epic, celebration of Svantovit, when gods are at war

Slav Epic Part Two

Slav Epic Part Two – Paintings 1 to 5 This post explores the detail on paintings numbered 1 to 5 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, when … Read More

slav epic, the coronation of serbian tsar stepan dusan, slavic legislation

Slav Epic Part Three

Slav Epic Part Three – Paintings 6 to 10 This post explores the detail on the paintings numbered 6 to 10 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, … Read More

Slav epic, the defence of sziget by nikola zrnski

Slav Epic Part Four

Slav Epic Part Four – Paintings 11 to 15 This post explores the detail on paintings numbered 11 to 15 in the Slav Epic series with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, when … Read More

Slav Epic by Alfons Mucha, the Oath of the Omladina Under the Linden tree

Slav Epic Part Five

Slav Epic Part Five – Paintings 16 to 20 This post explores the detail on paintings numbered 16 to 20 in the Slav Epic with interpretation, what to look for and historic context etc. If you want first to learn what leads up to the creation of the Slav Epic, who painted it, when and … Read More

a black and white artistic sketch of the face of franz kafka

Franz Kafka

Famous Czechs – Franz Kafka As Franz Kafka lay on his death bed at the age of 40 on June 3rd 1924 he would scarcely have believed that less than half a Century later his name would be known around the world, his literary work appearing in more than 30 languages, his private letters and … Read More

tall bronze statue of jan hus on prague old town square with blue sky background

Jan Hus

Famous Czechs – Jan Hus This will be the first of five posts which will eventually give you a rounded view of Jan Hus, how to interpret his monument, where he preached and why plus a clever piece of art. But first you should understand who he was and hence WHY he is one of … Read More