In May of 2024, a new cause célébre attracted attention of Prague citizens and visitors – an installation of two giant ´Spitfire Butterfly´ sculptures mounted on the façade of Máj (English: May) department store.
The sculptures have its bodies made to resemble Supermarine Spitfire, the British-made fighter aircraft of the Second World War but equipped with butterfly-like latticed wings. The ten-metre-long ´aircraft´ slowly flaps their wings in an irregular move, as well as rotate their propellers. The sculptures are painted in blue and violet camouflage pattern, with their wings additionally illuminated at night.
The author of this controversial work is well known Czech artist, David Černý. His works can be seen at different locations in Prague and many of them already became modern symbols of the city, as Miminka (Crawling Babies, commonly known in English as Tower Babies), the giant infants crawling the Žižkov Television Tower; Kůň (Horse), showing St. Wenceslas riding a dead horse, or Hlava Franze Kafky (Franz Kafka´s Head), the rotating sculpture located at Quadrio building.
The truth is that majority of Černý´s work aroused controversy, mostly because his casual approach to national icons and symbols, specific sense of humour and cool irony. The Entropa sculpture, made to mark the Czech presidency of the Council of the European Union was the best example – Černý not only gave an ironic bow to national stereotypes of the EU countries but, in addition, had cheated the Czech government that the sculpture was made by twenty-seven different artists.
The Spitfire Butterflies, also known as the Butterfly Effect, are no different. According to Černý, the sculptures are his commemoration to Czech pilots in the Royal Air Force, who fought for the country´s freedom during the World War II. As he mentioned in several interviews, his idea was to merge the iconic fighter with delicacy of the butterfly, in order to show the so-called butterfly effect and point that even the fragile thing can spark a fire to destroy the enemy. In this allegory, Černý wanted to refer to the post-war fates of the Czechoslovak RAF pilots, who were persecuted by socialistic regime and received full rehabilitation and recognition only after the Velvet Revolution of 1989.
In addition to the ´aircraft´ on the façade, there were 359 small aeroplane silhouettes placed in the pavement in front of Máj. They represent the number of Czechoslovak pilots from the RAF fighter units in the Second World War.
Similarly to other Černý´s works, also the Spitfire Butterflies aroused widespread controversy and fervent public debate. The idea of installing the sculptures on the façade of Máj department store was strongly criticised by Národní památkový ústav (the Czech National Heritage Institute), Klub Za starou Prahu (Club for the Old Prague) association and some Czech media. The work was called kitsch, representing nothing more than bad and banal taste, totally inconsistent with character of the old centre of Prague.
Nevertheless, the work was formally approved by Prague City Hall and its Department of Monument Care. Following that decision, the Spitfire Butterflies were mounted on the Máj walls in late May of 2024.
The Máj department store was built in the 1970s, following the project of John Eisler, Miroslav Masák and Martin Rajniš from SIAL architect studio. The building was favourably reviewed by international architect community and slowly began one of the icons of modern Prague. In 2007, the department store was officially announced a historic building.
In 2022, the overall reconstruction of Máj was launched. It lasted two years and completely changed the functionality of the building. Apart from its usual retail function, it now includes also entertainment, cultural and educational premises, children’s playground and viewing point, located at the top floor.
The truth is that one of the principles of the art is to provoke strong reactions by pushing the boundaries and challenge conventional thinking. And this is exactly what David Černý´s Spitfire Butterflies do.
The installation was debated thoroughly in the Czech Republic and abroad, as well as caught everyone´s attention. Currently, Máj and the Spitfire Butterflies are one of the ´must-see´ locations in Prague, being visited and photographed by dozens of thousands of tourists.
Certainly, everyone may draw their own conclusions about the artistic merit of Černý´s work and it is not us to judge the art. Therefore, we decided to leave this question open to you.
The Spitfire Butterflies are only a temporarily installation. According to the official permission issued by the Prague City Hall, they are allowed to stay on the Máj façade for one year.
