Gallery sights in Prague
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Mucha Museum
This fascinating (and busy) museum features the sensuous art nouveau posters, paintings and decorative panels of Alfons Mucha (1860–1939), as well as many sketches, photographs and other memorabilia. The exhibits include countless artworks showing Mucha’s trademark Slavic maidens with flowing hair and piercing blue eyes, bearing symbolic garlands and linden boughs.
There are also photos of the artist’s Paris studio, one of which shows a trouserless Gaugin playing the harmonium; a powerful canvas entitled Old Woman in Winter; and the original of the 1894 poster of actress Sarah Bernhardt as Giselda, which shot him to international fame. The fascinating 30-minute…
reviewed
-
B
Convent of St Agnes
In the northeastern corner of Staré Město is the former Convent of St Agnes, Prague’s oldest surviving Gothic building. The 1st-floor rooms hold the National Gallery’s permanent collection of medieval and early Renaissance art (1200–1550) from Bohemia and Central Europe, a treasure house of glowing Gothic altar paintings and polychrome religious sculptures.
In 1234 the Franciscan Order of the Poor Clares was founded by Přemysl king Wenceslas I, who made his sister Anežka (Agnes) the first abbess of the convent. Agnes was beatified in the 19th century and, with hardly accidental timing, Pope John Paul II canonised her as St Agnes of Bohemia just weeks before the…
reviewed
-
C
Meet Factory
David Černý’s ‘Meet Factory’ is a remarkable project that unites artists from around the world to live and create in this cavernous, abandoned factory south of Smíchovské nádraží. The space is used for exhibitions, happenings, film screenings, theatrical performances and concerts. The location is out of the way, so be sure to check the website for the opening hours and program of events before heading out.
reviewed
-
D
Futura Gallery
The Futura Gallery focuses on all aspects of contemporary art, ranging from painting, photography and sculpture to video, installations and performance art. In the garden, you'll find a rather shocking and amusing permanent installation by David Černý, called Brownnosers.
reviewed
-
E
Schwarzenberg Palace
Sporting a beautifully preserved facade of black-and-white Renaissance sgraffito, the Schwarzenberg Palace houses the National Gallery’s collection of baroque art. Sadly, a lot of the paintings are poorly lit and suffer from reflections from nearby windows – a shame, as the inside of the palace itself is less impressive than the outside, and the collection is really only of interest to aficionados.
The ground floor is given over to two masters of baroque sculpture, Matthias Braun and Maximilian Brokof, whose overwrought figures appear to have been caught in a hurricane, such is the liveliness of their billowing robes. The highlights of the 1st floor are the moody…
reviewed
-
F
Kinský Palace
The late-baroque Kinský Palace sports Prague’s finest rococo facade, completed in 1765 by the redoubtable Kilian Dientzenhofer. Today, the palace is home to a branch of the National Gallery, housing its collection of ancient and oriental art, ranging from ancient Egyptian tomb treasures and Greek Apulian pottery (4th century BC) to Chinese and Japanese decorative art and calligraphy.
Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite, once stayed in the palace; his crush on pacifist Bertha von Suttner (née Kinský) may have influenced him to establish the Nobel Peace Prize (she was the first woman laureate in 1905). Many older Praguers have a darker memory of the place,…
reviewed
-
G
Šternberg Palace
The baroque Šternberg Palace is home to the National Gallery’s collection of 14th- to 18th-century European art, including works by Goya and Rembrandt. Fans of medieval altarpieces will be in heaven; there are also several Rubens, some Rembrandts and Breughels, and a large collection of Bohemian miniatures.
Pride of the gallery is the glowing Feast of the Rosary by Albrecht Dürer, an artist better known for his engravings. Painted in Venice in 1505 as an altarpiece for the church of San Bartolomeo, it was brought to Prague by Rudolf II; in the background, beneath the tree on the right, is the figure of the artist himself. For a bit of grotesque, snot-nosed realism,…
reviewed
-
H
Kampa Museum
Housed in a renovated mill building, this gallery is devoted to 20th-century and contemporary art from Central Europe. The highlights of the permanent exhibition are extensive collections of bronzes by Cubist sculptor Otto Gutfreund and paintings by František Kupka, a pioneer of abstract art.
The most impressive canvas is Kupka’s Cathedral, a pleated mass of blue and red diagonals suggesting a curtain with a glimpse of darkness beyond. Outside the museum you can get a close-up look at one of David Černý’s famous crawling babies (the ones that swarm over the TV Tower in Žižkov).
reviewed
-
I
Mánes Gallery
Spanning a branch of the river beneath a 15th-century water tower is the Mánes Building (1927–30), a masterpiece of functionalist architecture designed by Otakar Novotný. It houses an art gallery founded in the 1920s by a group of artists, headed by painter Josef Mánes, as an alternative to the Czech Academy of Arts.
It is still one of Prague’s best venues for viewing contemporary art, with a lively program of changing exhibitions. However, will be closed for renovation works until September 2013.
reviewed
-
J
Prague Castle Gallery
The same Swedish army that looted the famous bronzes in the Wallenstein Garden in 1648 also nicked Rudolf II’s art treasures. This exhibition of 16th- to 18th-century European art, housed in the beautiful Renaissance stables at the northern end of the Second Courtyard, is based on the Habsburg collection that was begun in 1650 to replace the lost paintings; it includes works by Cranach, Holbein, Rubens, Tintoretto and Titian.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
K
House at the Stone Bell
During restoration in the 1980s the baroque stucco facade was stripped away from this elegant medieval building to reveal the original 14th-century Gothic stonework; the eponymous stone bell is on the building’s corner. Inside, two restored Gothic chapels now serve as branches of the Prague City Gallery (with changing exhibits of modern art) and as chamber-concert venues.
reviewed
-
L
Museum of Czech Cubism
Though dating from 1912, Josef Gočár’s House of the Black Madonna (dům U černé Matky Boží) – Prague’s first and finest example of cubist architecture – still looks modern and dynamic. It now houses three floors of remarkable cubist paintings and sculpture, as well as furniture, ceramics and glassware in cubist designs.
reviewed
-
M
Strahov Picture Gallery
In Strahov Monastery’s second courtyard is the Strahov Picture Gallery, with a valuable collection of Gothic, baroque, rococo and romantic art on the 1st floor and temporary exhibits on the ground floor. Some of the medieval works are extraordinary – don’t miss the very modern-looking 14th-century Jihlava Crucifix. You can also wander around the monastery’s cloister, refectory and chapter house.
reviewed
-
N
House at the Golden Ring
The restored Renaissance House at the Golden Ring, located at the corner of Týnská just outside the western entrance to Týn courtyard, contains another branch of the Prague City Gallery; the original painted ceiling beams can still be seen in some of the rooms. It also features a collection of Central European art from the second half of the 20th century.
reviewed
-
O
Bílek Villa
This striking art-nouveau villa, designed by sculptor František Bílek in 1911, now houses a museum of his unconventional works. Bílek's distinctive sculptures, mostly in wood, take inspiration from his religious beliefs. Dramatic compositions such as The Fall show Adam and Eve cowering in fear of God's wrath, while Wonderment expresses the feeling of awe at God's presence.
Bílek's most famous work is a wooden relief of The Crucifixion, on display in St Vitus Cathedral – you can see a charcoal preliminary sketch of it among the artist's drawings in the 1st-floor gallery. The villa served not only as a studio but also as the artist's home, and there are several rooms…
reviewed
-
P
Karlín Studios
Housed in a converted factory building, this complex of artists’ studios includes a public art gallery that showcases the best of Czech contemporary art, plus two small commercial galleries. This is the place to come and see what’s happening at the cutting edge of art in the city.
reviewed
-
Q
Jiří Švestka
The best galleries for contemporary art around town include Jiří Švestka; the Rudolfinum; Tranzit/Display; NoD; and Karlín Studios.
reviewed
-
R
NoD
The best galleries for contemporary art around town include Jiří Švestka; the Rudolfinum; Tranzit/Display; NoD; and Karlín Studios.
reviewed
-
S
Prague Castle Picture Gallery
The same Swedish army that looted the famous bronzes in the Wallenstein Garden in 1648 also nicked Rudolf II’s art treasures. This exhibition of 16th- to 18th-century European art, housed in the beautiful Renaissance stables at the northern end of the Second Courtyard, is based on the Habsburg collection that was begun in 1650 to replace the lost paintings; it includes works by Cranach, Holbein, Rubens, Tintoretto and Titian.
reviewed