Exhibition Alfons Mucha and folklore

"The idea of Mucha Trail was born last year during the opening of the exposition of the Slovanské epopeje, the culminating work of my grandfather, at the chateau in Moravský Krumlov. Gradually, it should connect not only the places connected with my grandfather in South Moravia, but also other towns that made a significant mark in his life. And Piešt'any certainly belongs to Mucha Trail, because we owe the spa to the healing of Aunt Jaroslava. Alfonzo's picture Buď pozdravený, požehnaný prameň zdravia! will be one of the pearls on the necklace of Mucha Trail. I am very happy and I think that my grandfather, the creator of the first Czechoslovak stamp, should also have it, because his Piešt'any work became the model for one of the most beautiful stamps in the world." says John Mucha, president of the Mucha Foundation and grandson of Alfonz Mucha.

Mucha's famous painting intended for the Grand Restaurant of the Thermia Palace Hotel was unveiled for the first time in May 1932. The Art Nouveau master custom-painted it in the pentagonal space above the door of the hotel restaurant. The main motif of the work is the healing of a girl sitting in a chair. A girl in Piešťany’s costume rests on his lap, and a woman in a similar costume on the right side of the painting hands the recovering girl a red rose. The girl in the chair is believed to be a depiction of the painter's daughter. It is an original painting intended for this hotel. The master painted the work and gave it to the spa hotel in gratitude for her healing and recovering.

Just a few years ago, it looked like this picture would never be seen again in Piešťany. The work, titled "Hail, Blessed Fountain of Health," mysteriously disappeared in October 2000. The thieves cut out the canvas and escaped through a window through the hotel's garden. An investigation has begun. The Piešťany Spa and the Balneological Museum provided the police with information about the painting, Interpol also started a search. The people of Piešťany issued a postcard with a picture of Alfonso Mucha and a text in six languages calling on people to help Interpol in the search. Piešťany greetings with Mucha's painting were delivered by post all over the world. The painting was found only after four years, in December 2004. After extensive restoration, the four-meter-wide rare paitnting was returned to its original place in 2006, to the Grand Restaurant of the five-star Thermia Palace hotel in Piešťany. Although the dealers were caught and charged for keeping the work of art, the thief, or the person who ordered the theft, could not be found. And so the disappearance of Mucha's painting still remains a mystery.