What's in a Prague street name

Originally published on X on 26 April 2024.

Mikoláš Aleš was born in Mirotice, in Southern Bohemia, in 1852. He started drawing at the age of four, later taking up painting.

In 1869, he enrolled in Prague’s Academy of Fine Arts. He was later expelled (in 1876) after taking part in a demonstration against a professor who said there was no such thing as Czech art during the Gothic and Baroque periods, just Czech impersonations of German art.

Things improved in 1879, however, when he not only got married and moved to Malá Strana, but also, along with the painter František Ženíšek, won a competition to decorate the foyer of the National Theatre (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/09/14/prague-1-day-105-divadelni/).

Speaking of that marriage: his wife was called Marina Kailová, and her brother was called Otto Kail. Otto’s great-grandson would be a certain Václav Klaus.

Aleš also created illustrations for books and magazines. During his lifetime, his decorative work was appreciated; his oil paintings (such as these ones) wouldn’t gain acclaim until after his death.

While these are some of his many illustrations.

His house façades, created in collaboration with Antonín Wiehl, are particularly well-known: there’s an example on https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/06/prague-1-day-171-jilska/.

And another on here: https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/10/15/prague-1-day-195-male-namesti/.

From 1885, Aleš ran a painting academy where this embankment is now named after him; the street sign at the top of the post is on the building’s façade, which we’ll take a closer look at tomorrow.

He’s also commemorated at another building in the street, number 4.

In 1908, Aleš became a full member of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts.

He died of a stroke on what is now Bělehradská (https://whatsinapraguestreetname.com/2024/03/02/prague-2-day-40-belehradska/) in 1913; he’s buried at Vyšehrad.

The embankment, meanwhile, offers some wonderful views and relatively few people, even on a busy day.