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The row over the Slav Epic, a series of 20 large canvasses bestowed to Prague by their creator, the Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, has entered a new round. Prague City Hall decided on Friday to ignore a new ban issued by the authorities in Moravský Krumlov, where the paintings have been on display since the 1960s, and to go ahead with their relocation to the capital. Both sides now accuse each other of breaching the law, while the painter’s grandson John Mucha has likened Prague’s latest move to “a rape” of the masterpiece.

Prague City Gallery workers on Thursday began preparing the controversial relocation of the Slav Epic, a series of 20 large canvases by the Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, from the town of Moravský Krumlov to the capital. Several dozen people protested the move. The preparations should take about three weeks; after that, the Slav Epic should be relocated to Prague where it should be featured in a new exhibition.

Alphonse Mucha bestowed the Slav Epic to the city of Prague on condition it would build a special pavilion for it. That has never happened, and the cycle has been on display in Moravský Krumlov for nearly 50 years. When Prague City Hall requested the return of the paintings earlier this year, Moravský Krumlov blocked the move; however, a local court cancelled the restraining order in September. The governor of the South Moravian region appealed on Thursday to Prague authorities to stop the relocation.

The regional council of South Moravia has cancelled a restraining order blocking the relocation of Alfons Mucha’s Slav Epic to Prague. The town hall of Moravský Krumlov had filed the order at the behest of the painter’s grandson John Mucha, who contends that the ownership of the Art Nouveau masterpiece is unclear. A South Moravian court ruled last week that the 20 canvasses must be turned over to the City of Prague. Mucha’s will bestows the paintings to the City of Prague, though only on the condition that a special pavilion is created for them. However, no such venue was ever built.

A South Moravian court has ruled that the Slav Epic, the masterpiece of artist Alfons Mucha, must be turned over to the City of Prague for a prepared exhibit in the National Gallery. The decision overrules a restraining measure filed by the town of Moravský Krumlov to prevent the renowned, 20-canvass artwork from being relocated until questions regarding its ownership are resolved. Mucha’s will bestows the paintings to the City of Prague, though only on the condition that a special pavilion is created for them. No such venue was ever built, and the court based its decision on a 1993 document through which Prague assumed ownership of them from the Ministry of Culture. The decision may be appealed, however Moravský Krumlov must hand over the artwork at least until the planned exhibit ends on May 31.

There’s a bitter legal dispute at the moment over the fate of 20 massive paintings by the artist Alphonse Mucha, who created the style known as ‘art nouveau’ in the early 20th century. The cycle of 20 thematic paintings – known collectively as the Slav Epic - has spent the last 47 years in a crumbling castle in the town of Moravský Krumlov. Officials in Prague, however, now want them back, causing an uproar in Moravia, and elsewhere in the country.

The city of Prague and the town of Moravský Krumlov have not been able to reach an agreement regarding the move of Czech art-deco painter Alphonse Mucha’s Slav Epic from Moravský Krumlov to the Czech capital. The city of Prague is now going to file an appeal against last week’s court decision that barred anybody from handling the twenty-canvass masterpiece until a controversy over ownership rights had been cleared. The two city halls have been at odds over the fate of the precious Slav Epic after Prague city hall attempted to get it moved to the city’s Veletržní Palác art gallery. It has been housed in the Moravský Krumlov castle for over half a century, partly because a designated home for the painting in Prague was never built, which was one of Mucha’s conditions when he donated the Slav Epic to the city in 1913.

The city of Prague has said it wants to come to an amicable agreement with the city of Moravsk ý Krumlov over Alphonse Mucha’s Slav epic. The two city halls are at odds over the fate of the precious art collection after Prague city hall attempted to get it moved to Prague’s Veletržní Palác art gallery. However local authorities in Moravský Krumlov, where the Slav Epic has been housed for over half a century, have heeded a call from Mucha’s heirs to bar anybody from handling it. The ban will remain in place until uncertainties surrounding a 1913 contract granting the city of Prague ownership of the art work have been cleared up. Alfonse Mucha donated the 20-painting collection to Prague on the condition that the authorities built a dedicated home for his late masterpiece, a condition that remains unfulfilled. On Sunday around 1,000 people demonstrated against it being moved from Moravský Krumlov, where it is the biggest tourist attraction.

Officials in Moravský Krumlov have blocked the planned move of Alphonse Mucha’s Slav Epic to Prague. Movers were on Monday due to start taking the first of the 20 paintings that make up the masterpiece to the capital for display at the Veletržni Palác modern art gallery. However local authorities in Moravský Krumlov, where the Slav Epic has been housed for over half a century, have heeded a call from Mucha’s heirs to bar anybody from handling it. The ban will remain in place until uncertainties surrounding a 1913 contract granting the city of Prague ownership of the art work have been cleared up.

The Mucha Foundation, which is run by the artist’s grandson, says moving the Slav Epic to Veletržni Palác would only be a temporary solution. The Art Nouveau pioneer donated it to Prague on the condition that the authorities built a dedicated home for his late masterpiece, a condition that remains unfulfilled. On Sunday around 1,000 people demonstrated against it being moved from Moravský Krumlov, where it is the biggest tourist attraction.

Alphonse Mucha’s masterpiece the Slav Epic will not be moved from its temporary home in Moravský Krumlov to Prague for the time being – not before legal questions over its ownership are cleared up- that was the decision by officials on Monday, heeding a call by the painter’s heirs to block anyone from handling the work. The ruling came only hours or so before the first transfer of canvases was to begin; Prague had been hoping to temporarily show them at Veletržní palác.

Around 1,000 people held a protest in Moravský Krumlov on Sunday over the moving of Alphonse Mucha’s Slav Epic to Prague. The series of 20 paintings has been housed in Moravský Krumlov castle for over 50 years and is the town’s main attraction. However its owner, the city of Prague, will on Monday begin moving it to the capital, where it will be displayed at the Veletržni Palác modern art gallery. Mucha’s heirs are also opposed to such a move, which they regard as merely temporary. The Art Nouveau pioneer gave the Slav Epic to Prague, on the condition that the authorities built a dedicated home for his late masterpiece, a condition that remains unfulfilled. Saturday was the 150th anniversary of the birth of Alphonse Mucha in the Moravian town of Ivančice.