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PRAGUE WIT
DON’T WORRY, IT’S ONLY SIGMUND FREUD
Story and photographs by Michael Burge
rague’s residents have an acerbic wit only Sigmund Freud, subject of a sculpture
that manifests in their art. The sculp- called “Man Hanging Out.” This time Cerny
P ture of King Wenceslaus I astride his explains that this piece is a comment on
dead upside-down horse is a prime exam- the precarious state of intellectualism in
ple. The artist, David Cerny, declines to ex- the late 20th century, when he created the
plain its meaning, but it is recognized as a artwork. Fortunately, things have improved
counterpoint to the more heroic statue of since then.
the good king, a patron saint of the Czech A prominent Prague literary figure is
nation, that presides over Wenceslaus also the subject of local art. Franz Kafka
Square. was born in the city and wrote in German,
Cerny is known in his country for satiric but his work was barely known when he
and sometimes defiant acts, such as the died in 1924. Kafka rose to fame after
time he painted a Soviet tank pink to World War II, and in 2000 the city of
protest the longtime Soviet occupation of Prague commissioned Jaroslav Rona to
his country. A more whimsical sculpture create a statue. The result was Kafka sit-
surprises pedestrians new to Prague’s Old ting atop the shoulders of a headless man,
Town, when they turn a corner to see a an allusion to a story Kafka wrote, called
man dangling by one arm over the street, “Description of a Struggle.” Sure, we get it.
as if he’s about to drop. Don’t worry, it’s
120 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2025
