Antonin Dvorak statue

Public Art: Antonin Dvorak statue

Sculptor: © Jan Wagner ( based on a model made by his father sculptor Josef Wagner)

Description: A bronze life size statue of famous Czech composer and founder of modern Czech music Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904)

Date unveiled: The Dvorak statue was unveiled on the 3rd June, 2000 following the Prague Summer festival in front of Rudolfinum where he had conducted his first concert of the Czech Philharmonic.

Cost: 5 million Crowns

Location:

Controversy: In 1949 the Prague Municipal Authority had decided on a location for a statue of Dvorak to be erected in a little park near Rudolfinum but as fate would have it in 1951 the then Minister of Culture changed those plans. Seems he got rejected by Dvorak's daughter Otylka when he was younger and carried a grudge. As a result a statue of painter Josef Manes was placed there instead.

Arguments about the location of the Dvorak statue continued in 2000 when a change of plans saw the statue erected on the lawn in front of the Rudolfinum instead of on the steps. Originally the statue was to be unveiled on the 12th of May on the steps but was halted by councilors.

Reference: www.prague.eu