Líbánky s Múzou na Hané (2026)

This Czech-language book combines literary nonfiction and fiction, presenting short portraits of the lives and work of three celebrated Czech painters—Josef Mánes, Karel Svolinský, and Jan Zrzavý—who had close ties to Olomouc and the surrounding region. The following stories are fictional, but based on historical facts. After the Kroměříž assembly, Josef Mánes repeatedly stayed at the château in Čechy pod Kosířem, where the Silva-Tarouca family provided him with patronage and numerous opportunities for artistic development. Haná thus inspired one of the most important Czech artists of the nineteenth century. Karel Svolinský, a native of Svatý Kopeček, created new decoration for the Olomouc Astronomical Clock in the 1950s. After disputes with officials, he accepted a compromise and designed a mosaic in the spirit of socialist realism, incorporating his distinctive artistic style and highlighting the beauty and nobility of the people of Haná. Jan Zrzavý was already a renowned painter when, after the war, the rector of Palacký University invited him to Olomouc to help establish the Department of Art Education at the Institute of Art Education. He taught painting and composition there from 1947 to 1950, but was forced to leave Olomouc for political reasons.