In the footsteps of Alphonse Mucha: The National Bank

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In the French-speaking world and indeed the world at large, Mucha is best known in connection with his poster work, and in Bohemia he is especially famous for his large-format canvasses of the Slav Epic. What is less well-known about him is that during the early First Republic period his work also consisted of small graphic artworks, such as the designs of postage stamps and banknotes. To help the newly emerging state, Alphonse Mucha sent several of his proposals for banknotes to the then Minister of Finance Alois Rašín just after the events of October 1918, saying that he was waiving his royalties rights. He was at once entrusted with designing the entire set of banknotes, which became known after him as the “muchovky”, in denominations from 10 to 500 Czechoslovak crowns. Some depict his wife Maruška, others his daughter Jaroslava. We also find depicted vistas of Prague Castle. Since his surname in Czech suggests a fly, in Moravian dialect, the entire collection of these ‘fly-papers’ can be seen as part of the banknote exhibit in Czech National Bank building.

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