The second oldest gallery after the Louvre in Europe at permanent and temporary exhibitions presents masterpieces of Czech and international fine art. The exhibition halls of the National Gallery in Prague are located in the following historical buildings: St. Agnes Bohemian Monastery, Kinsky Palace, Salma Palace, Schwarzenberg Palace, Sternberg Palace, Wallenstein Riding School and the Fairs Palace (Veletržní).
History of creation
The history of the National Gallery in Prague began on February 5, 1796, when a group of representatives of the patriotically oriented Czech nobility, together with several middle class intellectuals from the Enlightenment movement, decided to “improve the taste of the local society”.
The corporation, dubbed the “Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts”, has opened two institutions that Prague previously lacked: the Academy of Fine Arts and the public gallery of the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts. She became the direct predecessor of what is today the National Gallery in Prague. In 1902, another institution appeared - the Modern Gallery of the Kingdom of Bohemia, a private institution of Emperor Franz Joseph I.
In 1918, the Art Gallery of the Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts became the central art collection of the new Czechoslovak state. In 1919, Vincent Kramarg was appointed director of the gallery, and in a short time he managed to turn the institution into a relatively modern and professional. In the difficult war period, in 1942, it was transferred under the control of the National Gallery of the Czech-Moravian Land. The National Gallery Act 1949 legally legalized the procedure.
Currently, the exposition has seven permanent exhibitions. The works presented in the national gallery in Prague cover the period from the Middle Ages to the present day.
European art from antiquity to baroque
The exhibition is located in the Sternberg Palace. It was created in 2002-2003. The first part includes works of art from ancient Greece and Rome. In the exhibition halls of the ground floor are the famous works of art of the XIV-XVI centuries, which are included in the collection of Konopiste Castle, the residence of Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este. Here there are works of old Tuscan masters (B. Duddy, L. Monaco), works of the Venetian school (Vivarini workshop) and masterpieces of Florentine mannerism (A. Bronzino, A. Allori).
The works of Italian, Spanish, French and Dutch masters from the 16th to the 18th century are exhibited on the second floor of the palace. Here you can find paintings by the most famous European artists such as Tintoretto, Ribera, Tiepolo, El Greco, Goya, Rubens and Van Dyck. There is also a collection of Flemish and Dutch masters, in particular, the works of Rembrandt, Hals, Terborch, Ruysdale and Van Goyen. On the ground floor there is an exhibition of German and Austrian art of the XVI-XVIII centuries.
Medieval art of Bohemia and Central Europe 1200-1550
This exhibition was opened in November 2000 in the authentic building of the monastery of St. Agnes of Bohemia, founded around 1231 by St. Agnes, daughter of Przemysl Otakar I.
In the first part of the exhibition on the ground floor, the development of Czech art from panel paintings and sculptures of the mid-14th century (masters of the Vysha Brod altar, masters of Maddo Michla) and the “soft” style of Master Taodorik to paintings by the master of altar making Trebon is traced. The Bohemian and Moravian works of the 15th and early 16th centuries coexist with the works of other Central European regions, with which at that time Bohemia maintained close cultural ties.
Art from the Rudolfinum era to Baroque in Bohemia
The exposition is located in the Schwarzenberg Palace. From January 7, 2019, it will be temporarily closed due to the preparation of a new permanent exhibition. Here are about 160 sculptural exhibits and 280 works of the late Renaissance and Baroque, created on the territory of the lands of the crown of Bohemia from the end of the XVI to the end of the XVIII centuries.
These include the famous stone sculptures of Matthias Bernhard Brown from the attic of the Clam Gallas Palace in Prague (1714-1716) and two angels from the Hermitage near Lysa nad Labem, a figure of the Moor from the gate of Konice Castle created by Maximilian Brockoff. The works of the 18th century are also presented here: sculptural and pictorial sketches, models, author's replicas and copies.
Contemporary Czech art from 1850-1900
The exposition is located in the Palace of Fairs. The history of Czech modern art begins in the middle of the 19th century. The art collection traces its development thanks to pronounced creative generations and individual artists, among which the main representatives of realism Viktor Barvitsy and Karel Purkine, the theater generation - Josef Vaclav Myslbek and Voitech-Hainais, as well as artists representing modernism and symbolism - Alphonse Mucha and Max Pirner.
The founding generation of contemporary artists is represented by Antonin Slavichek, Jan Preisler and Max Shvabinsky. The National Gallery also houses the most comprehensive collection of works by Frantisek Kupka, which documents the artist’s progress from symbolism to abstract art.
Art of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1938
The permanent exhibition is located on the third floor of the Palace of Exhibitions, its creation is dedicated to the hundredth anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. The exhibition presents the art of young independent Czechoslovakia between 1918 and 1938. It is interdisciplinary, representing not only visual works of art, but also other cultural forms that flourished during the first republic, such as book illustrations, design, graphic design, etc. The permanent exhibition is accompanied by a wide educational program.
Contemporary Czech art from 1930 to the present
Czech art that appeared after 1930 includes works by Frantisek Muzyka, Josef Šima, Jindřich Štyrski, Toyen, Zdeněk Sklenář, Jan Kotik or Vaclav Bartowski. In addition, the permanent collection also explores art movements from the 1960s to the present: Art Informel, Action Art, New Sensitivity, and postmodern art.
Graphics collection
Located in the Schwarzenberg Palace, it is one of the ten largest and most outstanding graphic collections in Europe. It consists of approximately 450, 000 engravings, drawings and fragments of manuscripts related to the Middle Ages and modern times. This is the largest collection of the National Gallery in Prague.
It developed relatively slowly, and not as part of the Picture Gallery of Patriotic Friends of the Arts, f from the beginning of the 19th century at the Academy, where its exhibits served as teaching aids. The collection was created by gradually combining various graphic collections, including the Clementinum library and donations, for example, a collection of graphics by the main collector Josef Joser.
The collection includes German and Dutch graphic art dating from the first half of the 16th century, with works by Albrecht Dürer, Lucas van Leyden and their contemporaries; collection of italian renaissance drawing. There is even a famous self-portrait of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Also noteworthy are engravings by Jacques Callot, graphic art by Rembrandt van Rijn and his school, as well as central European and especially Czech works of the 17th century. It also houses over 5, 000 prints and drawings by Vaclav Hollar. As for the art of the 18th century, the etchings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi should be mentioned.
The extensive collection of the 19th century presents works by the Manes family, etchings by Joseph Bergler and drawings by Caspar David Friedrich and Giovanni Segantini. A very valuable collection of papers on paper from the French collection, including the works of Pablo Picasso or Georges Brack. The works of Bochumil Kubiste and Otto Guttfrund, surrealist Jindrich Schtyrsky and Toyen represent contemporary Czech art.
Exhibitions
Currently, the National Gallery in Prague has 18 temporary exhibitions. Here are just a few of them:
- Bonjour, monsieur Gauguin: Czech artist in Britain 1850-1950. The exhibition is located in the Kinski Palace and runs until March 17, 2019.
- "Jindřich Chalupecký Award 2018". The exhibition presents the work of the winners of this award: Alzbety Batsikova, Lucas Hofmann, Thomas Kajanek, Katerina Olivova.
- Pictures are not only from Czech history. The exhibition is located in the Palace of Fairs. It has something to do with the centenary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. Here are paintings from the beginning of the 17th century to 1918.
- "Opening of Poetry No. 7: Egil Sabernsson, Stairs." The exhibition presents the work of an Icelandic artist, the poetry of Aigil Sabernsson in motion.
- Exhibition of open storage "Art of Asia".
- "Giambattista Tiepolo and the Sons."
