Czech arts collector, patron Meda Mladkova dies at 102

By KAREL JANICEK
Associated Press

PRAGUE (AP) — Czech arts collector and patron Meda Mladkova has died. She was 102. Mladkova was also a historian who was an impassioned promoter of Czech-born abstract artist Frantisek Kupka. Mladkova supported artists in communist Czechoslovakia while living in exile behind the Iron Curtain. The Kampa Museum announced that she died on Tuesday. The Kampa is a modern arts gallery that Mladkova created in the heart of Prague. It houses valuable collections including 215 works by Kupka. Mladkova was awarded a state decoration by then President Vaclav Havel in 1999. She became the commander of the French Order of Merit in 2012. Mladkova had donated her art collections to the city of Prague.