Alois Jirásek Monument in Prague Suburbs

Alois Jirásek, an important representative personality of Czechoslovak cultural and social life 

(1851–1930) has two monuments in Hradec Králové. The first is a memorial made of granite stones with a relief profile by artists Jaroslav Plichta, Josef Srdínek and Bohumil Lízner in Jiráskovy sady Park. The second monument is located in front of the elementary school and kindergarten in Prague Suburbs. The memorial bust was made by sculptor Josef Václav Škoda, who created many of his works in Hradec Králové (the Ladislav Pospíšil monument, the monument to Božena Němcová, the relief decoration of the National Bank of Czechoslovakia in Osvoboditelů Square). 

 

Škoda designed the Alois Jirásek monument during the First Czechoslovak Republic. During the German occupation, the artwork was kept in his studio. Between 1946 and 1949, the Office of the Local National Committee in Hradec Králové negotiated its location. A suitable place was the Říjnové revoluce Square (today Jiráskovo náměstí Square) in front of the elementary school and kindergarten. From a letter dated 2 May 1947, we know that the area in front of the school was to be landscaped as a park, which would provide a suitable framework for the bust. The monument was unveiled in June 1949.

 

In Škoda’s conception, Jirásek is depicted at an advanced age. The sculptor used expressionist means of expression: the modelling of Jirásek’s face, disheveled with wrinkles, and the drapery of his coat and its lapels are just crudely sketched. The bust thus gives a rather dramatic impression, and instead of the archetype of a national hero, Jirásek is depicted as a deserving, life-torn man. Unlike, for example, sculptor Josef Bílek, who also left a number of works in Hradec Králové, Škoda created more dynamic and more realistic artworks, although he was also capable of static, monumental compositions, especially in sandstone. 

 

JFB and LZL