The Lounský court again dealt with the dispute over the use of the Filly Memorial Hall

Louny – The main hearing in the dispute between the owner of the Peruc Castle in Louny, Dominika Matušová, and the Benedikt Rejt Gallery, a contributory organization of the Ústí Region, continued today at the Louny court. The organization is seeking its right to use the Emil Filla Memorial Room located in the castle. Matušová’s partner Pavel Ondráček and representatives of the Ústí Region had previously stated that the dispute could be resolved amicably. However, none of the parties indicated to the judge today that they had communicated outside of court, thus no out-of-court agreement was reached. Today, additional witnesses testified. The judge postponed the hearing until June 11, when documentary evidence will be read.

According to a donation agreement from the 1950s, paintings by the cubist painter are to be placed in the spaces where he resided. The castle owner committed to return the spaces by June 30, 2018, after the reconstruction of the building, but this has not yet occurred.

During one of the court sessions, Ondráček mentioned that the remediation of dry rot, which began in 2016, has been prolonged. One of the witnesses who conducted a building technical survey in the premises stated that dry rot was present in the building, but the damage was not severe. "It could certainly have been remediated," he said. However, a court expert confirmed the presence of dry rot to a greater extent.

Ondráček also mentioned in the last hearing that the basement spaces under the gallery were full of wastewater from toilets. The court expert stated that "it was a disgusting pit, from which moisture was rising to the upper floors." Another summoned witness stated today that "the built-in tank in the basement was essentially empty except for a layer of material a few centimeters thick at the bottom of the tank." "We did not find any damage to either the structure or the foundations,” said the witness, who worked for several years as an architect with the Benedikt Rejt Gallery. He added that the memorial room of the famous painter was in a rough construction state and it was evident to him that it had been used by someone. According to him, there were likely about 20 workers involved in the castle repairs, which was also confirmed by another witness. The court expert indicated that the construction modifications seemed reasonable given the presence of wood-damaging fungi.

Filla resided at the castle after World War II and created his works here until his death. The placement of the works of the cubist painter in Peruc is a condition of the donation agreement from 1956. The artist's wife, Hana Fillová, transferred part of Filla's extensive works, studio equipment, and a summer apartment in the castle to the state under this condition, where the painter stayed from 1945 to 1953.