The Asiatic Society 
of Japan

Mr. John Mucha was born on 20th May 1948 in London and towards the end of that year returned with his mother, Geraldine, to Prague. His primary education, eventually when allowed by the Communist regime, and secondary education was completed in Prague, but tertiary education was absolutely out of the question for him due to the negative political profile of his family. In 1950 Mr. Mucha’s father was arrested on trumped up charges by the Communist regime, with the state prosecutor originally demanding the death penalty. At that time his grandfather’s art was regarded as bourgeois, decadent, irrelevant and of no value. 

At the age of 18 Mr. John Mucha left Czechoslovakia to return to his other home, England. It was in England that he completed his university studies, following which his career path took him to the City of London and into the field of international banking. His career climaxed there when he was intimately involved in the establishment and then the running of the London branch of NORD/LB, which was the last of the top 100 biggest banks at that time to come to London. In 1991 his father Jiri Mucha died, and he had to decide what was going to happen to the family estate. Together with his mother they decided that it was of the most paramount importance to keep the family collection together; as the collection was and is the biggest and most comprehensive collection of Mucha’s works in the world. With John Mucha’s banking experience, they established the Mucha Foundation, of which he is the President to this day. 

Recently in the Czech Republic John Mucha has been closely involved in the return of the Slav Epic to Moravsky Krumlov. Looking ahead the Mucha Foundation is currently negotiating with the city of Prague about its ultimate home in Prague in the Savarin project and it is working with Tom Heatherwick Architects on its architectural setting. 

Since its establishment in 1992 the Foundation has held a number of exhibitions, with many in Japan and also Europe, America, Korea, China and Taiwan. 

 

Online Lecture Programme for 2021  

Professor Timon Screech, FBA, FRSA, MAE