Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
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Founded in 1885, the Prague Museum of Decorative Arts () is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice built from 1897 to 1899 after the designs of architect Josef Schulz. It opened in 1900 with exhibitions on the first floor. The museum's rich collections include decorative and
applied art The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Univ ...
s and design work ranging from
Late Antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...
to the present day with focus on European objects, particularly
arts and crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...
created in the Bohemian lands. The impressive interior of the permanent exhibition, "Stories of Materials," offers visitors an excursion into the history and development of decorative arts in the disciplines of glass, ceramics, graphic art, design, metal, wood and other materials, as well as objects such as jewellery, clocks and watches, textiles, fashion, toys and furniture.


Mission

The museum in
Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
collects and preserves for future generations examples of historical and contemporary crafts as well as applied arts and design—in both national and international contexts. The staff and directors believe in the harmony between function, quality and beauty; its claimed ambition is to inspire, educate and entertain in a unique way.


History

In 1885, the foundation of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague reflected the dramatic development of Czech society at the time. Following the establishment of a similar institution in
Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
in 1873, the Prague museum soon became an important cultural and educational center in the Crown Lands of Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The unfavorable impact of the Industrial Revolution on the aesthetic appearance and, consequently, the quality of products had for a long time been the subject of justified criticisms from artists, theorists and the public. The idea of establishing a permanent exhibition of decorative and applied arts in Prague was realised through an exhibition arranged by the Arkadia Association in 1861 at the Old Town Hall in Prague. Another source of inspiration was the founding of a similar institution—the South Kensington Museum (now
Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...
), which opened in London in 1852 and originally contained a collection of objects of applied and decorative arts. More important for the Czech public, however, was the Österreichisches Museum für Kunst und Industrie, which opened in Vienna in 1864. In 1868, in cooperation with the Vienna museum, the Prague Chamber of Trade and Commerce held an exhibition on Žofín Island of objects obtained from the Exposition Universelle d'Art et d'Industrie de 1867— International Exposition (1867)—supplemented by historical arts and crafts mostly from the collection of Vojtěch Lanna, who became the museum's most important donor and sponsor. In a period when funds and suitable buildings were hard to find, the promise of the exhibition area in the Rudolfinum (the House of the Artists) also contributed greatly to the birth of the museum.


Past exhibitions

The Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague presented many notable exhibitions. They presented works of greatest Czech artists, such as Alphonse Mucha, Josef Sudek, Ladislav Sutnar, Libuše Niklová, Václav Špála or Martin Janecký.


Other exhibitions

''In Prague'' * The Josef Sudek Gallery, 24 Úvoz,
Prague 1 Prague 1, formally the Prague 1 Municipal District (), is a Prague city districts, second-tier municipality in Prague. It is co-extensive with the national administrative district (''správní obvod'') of the same name. Prague 1 includes most of ...
: A small gallery that holds photographic displays of works by the world-reputed photographer Josef Sudek and others. * The House of the Black Madonna, 19 Ovocný trh, Prague 1 : Apart from its
fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...
s collection, the National Gallery's Museum of Czech Cubism also contains Cubist furniture, glass and ceramics from UPM's holdings. ''In Chateaux and Elsewhere'' * Kamenice nad Lipou Chateau, 1 Náměstí Čsl, Armády : Displays of wrought-iron objects, children's toys, the study collection of 19th- and 20th-century furniture from the museum's holdings. The "Museum of the Senses"—an installation of the Municipal Museum in Kamenice, and short-term exhibitions. * Porcelain museum of Klášterec nad Ohří in the Chateau Klášterec nad Ohří, Chomutovská 1, 431 51 Klášterec nad Ohří : An exhibition of Bohemian porcelain, with examples of Chinese and Japanese wares and porcelain produced in Europe. * Chateau Nové Hrady, 1 Nové Hrady (near Litomyšl) : The exhibition examines the art of furniture-making throughout the ages: from the Baroque to the
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
.


Library

The largest Czech library specializing in the arts and related fields is an integral part of the museum. It holds 172,000 volumes, including authoritative art encyclopedias, dictionaries of artists, comprehensive works on iconography, topography and heraldry. Apart from art books and other scholarly publications, the library contains numerous reference manuals and periodicals. It provides on-premises use of resources, database access and research in the Art and Architecture (ART) subject gateway. The exhibition halls of the museum and the library are fully accessible to wheelchair users.


See also

* Josef Sudek Gallery * The Chateau at Klášterec nad Ohří * The Chateau at Kamenice nad Lipou

Прага, Увоз, 160\24 Дом Луны и Солнца, Josef Sudek Gallery


References


External links


Official site of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Museum Of Decorative Arts In Prague Glass museums and galleries Art museums and galleries in Prague Decorative arts museums 1885 establishments in Austria-Hungary Design museums