Prague – Alphonse Mucha
Last Day In Prague for The Second Time – July 8 2017
It was already noon by the time I reached Old Town/New Town. I alighted at Mustek station, only couple stops from Namesti Miru. I took time checking out the shops, mainly known labels, some I don’t know. I didn’t get to buy anything – no more space in my luggage!
Finally got to the Mucha Museum. It was a bit pricey for a small museum, 260CZK, almost 10 Euros… It was good though. I appreciate art museums that focus on just one artist where I get to know about, not just their work per se, but how they got there through an exhibit of their memoirs and stories. Mucha was commercially successful, with celebrity status, unlike Van Gogh. His work was very precise, not abstract, but poster-like for the most part which is what most fo Art Noveau was – painted on tin cans, cigarette boxes, posters for theatres, cover for magazines, book illustrations, etc. He must have made heaps of money! His later work had more nationalist fervor. One was that of Sokol, org’n promoting nationalism through sports. I noted he likes to use female mythical figures in the background overarching over younger male and female subjects in the middle/foreground. One of them was Slavia. Another was the protector of early Slavs, Svantovit, three faced pagan god representing the past, preset and future.
Interesting to note that he was invited in Paris to the freemasons, and became Grand Master of the grand Lodge in Czechoslovakia. Paul Gaugin hung out with him, he’d met Rodin and Toulouse-loutrec, no mention of Van Gogh though. Very ethereal feel, very sensual and feminine – I thought his work would be great inspiration for fashion design! Alphonse Mucha died 10 days after being held by the Gestapo during the Nazi occupation. He finished his final work and exhibited in Brooklyn, the Slav Epic.
Walked about looking for place for lunch, ended up taking out freshly baked – still warm—bratwurst croissant, mandarins and pasta. Had mandarins at the piazza but thought I’d go somewhere nicer to eat the rest.
As I walked around the alleyways, I stumbled onto this quaint Bond-themed café. The chandelier, the color theme, gave it a Parisian feel. I just ordered Americano and the place didn’t mind I eat my bratwurst croissant while in there. Spent an hour having a chat with the Cowboy back in the USA.
It was already 4pm, I continued walking. I finally reached Ta Fantastika just a few steps from Charles bridge and bought myself 7PM ticket.
Across the bridge, paid homage to the John Lenon Wall. It’s about the only decent street art I’ve seen in Prague. Street Art doesn’t seem to be their strong suit. I suppose they have enough art in the streets with all the hovering statues and carvings on buildings.
I walked further and decided to check Petrin Hill, thinking I’d get a good panoramic view of Prague. It was 6PM, I still had an hour – but the waiting times at the funicular pretty much killed almost half of that time. Going up the 300-step tower is where you get a view – from the ground, the trees obstructed the view. I had no time, unfortunately. By the time I got back to the base of the hill, I had 10 mins left before 7! I sprinted as much as I could until my legs were burning, and navigated the maze of tourists in Charles Bridge, and made it to the theatre at 7:02PM, just before the show started. Whew! I was drenched in sweat.
It was worth it, I guess… Black Light Theatre was new to me. There’s an element of magic and pantomime. This started around 30 years ago and I wonder if they updated their technology. It does look old. But still entertaining. I don’t know why they felt they had to reveal the tricks in the end. Magicians don’t do it.
Well, it was another meeting with Alice in Wonderland.
Czech Republic was a rabbit-hole of history and myths I barely scratched the surface of. You can feel the impact on the skepticism and the lack of warm service even in the hospitality industry. Very pragmatic people.
