The court could decide today in the dispute over the Slav Epic

Prague - The District Court for Prague 1 could decide today on the dispute over the Slav Epic by Alfons Mucha. The main city of Prague holds the paintings. The painter's relative, John Mucha, claims in the lawsuit that Prague never became the owner of the paintings because it did not fulfill the author's condition to build separate exhibition spaces for the canvases.

The court was originally set to decide on the lawsuit by the painter's relative John Mucha last October, but ultimately decided to extend the evidence collection. Mucha's lawyer, František Vyskočil, proposed at the previous hearing that the court determine ownership not only as of the date of the death of Mucha's wife, Marie, but also at the death date of the painter himself. Therefore, the court postponed the proceedings to today.

The paintings are currently in the custody of the Gallery of the Capital City (GHM). Last October, Prague approved lending the cycle to the castle in Moravský Krumlov for five years, where the paintings were on display until 2011. During the lending period, the issue of missing space in Prague should be resolved. According to GHM, a condition for the lending of the artwork is the completion of the castle renovations.

The District Court began addressing Mucha's lawsuit in January 2017. At that time, it rejected it, and the appellate tribunal confirmed the decision. However, the Supreme Court annulled the rulings in May two years ago. The court began to resolve the lawsuit a second time six months later.