[CPProt.net] Slovakia: Unhealthy return for Mucha painting "Blessed spring"

[MusSecNetworkCulPropProtNet]

 Unhealthy return for "Blessed spring"

A PAINTING that was stolen from the walls of a hotel in the Slovak spa town of Piešťany was returned to its rightful owners January 21.
The painting, by Czech art nouveau artist Alfons Mucha (1860-1939) and entitled Be Greeted the Blessed Spring of Health, suffered visible damage since its theft.
Milan Krámarik, director of the Piešťany spa, collected the valuable work from the Czech police in Plzeň, the TASR news agency wrote.
The painting was stolen on October 19, 2000, from the Thermia Palace Hotel in Piešťany. A thief used a knife to cut the work from its frame and carried it out of the building.
Czech police recovered the painting, worth Sk3 million (€77,520), while someone was attempting to sell it to an Austrian citizen.
The colour of the upper part of the painting has been obliterated, damage is also apparent in several other places. "We want to ask the specialists and restorers from the Slovak National Gallery and the University of Design Arts to appraise the extent of the damage as soon as possible. We'll decide what to do next, depending on their suggestions," said Kramárik.
The intention of the spa headquarters is to return the artwork to the wall in the dining room of the Thermia Palace hotel in May 2006, when the hotel will be re-opened after reconstruction.
At that time, Thermia will be equipped with a modern security system and this should stop further incidents of theft. The painting will be kept in the treasury of the security service of Piešťany spa until 2006.
Mucha composed Be Greeted the Blessed Spring of Health in 1913. It is a spa scene in which a young girl in a wheelchair is featured. The girl was Mucha's sick daughter, who was being treated at Piešťany.
Mucha donated the painting to a former tenant of the spa, Alexander Winter.

http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok-18561.html