The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, which manages the largest collection of art in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

and presents masterpieces of Czech and international fine art in permanent and temporary exhibitions. The collections of the gallery are not housed in a single building, but are presented in a number of historic structures within the city of Prague, as well as other places. The largest of the gallery sites is the Trade Fair Palace (''Veletržní Palác''), which houses the National Gallery's collection of modern art. Other important exhibition spaces are located in the Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia, the Kinský Palace, the Salm Palace, the Schwarzenberg Palace, the Sternberg Palace, and the Wallenstein Riding School. Founded in 1796, it is one of the world's oldest public art galleries and one of the largest museums in

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the a ...

History

The history of the National Gallery dates back to the end of the 18th century (namely February 5, 1796), when a group of prominent representatives of

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n patriotic aristocracy ( Kolowrat, Sternberg, Nostitz) and middle-class intellectuals decided to elevate what they called the "debased artistic taste" of the local population. The institution, which received the title Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts, established the Academy of Fine Arts and the Picture Gallery. In 1918 the Picture Gallery became a central collection of newly formed

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

. In 1995 new spaces dedicated to 19th- and 20th-century art were opened in the refurbished Veletržní Palác (Trade Fair Palace), itself a national monument as Prague's largest functionalist building and one of the earliest examples of that architectural style in the city (construction began in 1925). St George's Convent (Hradčany) was formerly used to display Art of the Middle Ages in Bohemia and Central Europe, baroque art, and the 19th-century art of Bohemia.

The collections

Old Masters

* Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia (

Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

) – Art of the Middle Ages in Bohemia and Central Europe * Šternberk Palace (

Hradčany Hradčany (; german: Hradschin), the Castle District, is the district of the city of Prague, Czech Republic surrounding Prague Castle. The castle is one of the biggest in the world at about in length and an average of about wide. Its histo ...

) – European Art from Antiquity to the end of the Baroque period * Schwarzenberg palace (Hradčany) – Baroque in Bohemia

19th-Century Art

* Salm Palace (

)

Modern and Contemporary Art

* Veletržní palác (Trade Fair Palace), Holešovice – 19th-, 20th-, and 21st-century art, the National Gallery's largest collection. Since 2012 Alfons Mucha's

Slav Epic ''The Slav Epic'' ( cs, Slovanská epopej) is a cycle of 20 large canvases painted by Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha between 1910 and 1928. The cycle depicts the mythology and history of Czechs and other Slavic peoples. In 1928, aft ...

has been on display here. :The international collection includes numerous works by artists such as

Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

, Monet,

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...

Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fro ...

, Cézanne, Renoir, Schiele, Munch, Miró and

Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's pri ...

; many of these are donations from the collection of art historian Vincenc Kramář. :Picasso, who has a spacious room to himself in the gallery, has two self-portraits there, and two of his nudes in addition to more abstract work. Works by Rodin, whose exhibition in Prague in the early 20th century had a profound impact on Czech sculpture for many years afterwards, include a series of busts and full-sized figure on a variety of subjects in the gallery. :The vast collection contains a large number of Czech and Slovak paintings and sculptures, including works by

Alfons Mucha Alfons Maria Mucha (; 24 July 1860 – 14 July 1939), known internationally as Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorat ...

Otto Gutfreund Otto Gutfreund (3 August 1889 – 2 June 1927) also written Oto Gutfreund, was a Czechoslovak sculptor. After studying art in Prague and Paris, he became known in the 1910s for his sculptures in a cubist style. After his service in the First World ...

, František Kupka, T. F. Šimon, Tavik Frantisek Simon (1877-1942), Rudolf Fila,

Vincenc Beneš Vincenc Beneš (22 January 1883 – 27 March 1979) was a Czech painter. Early life and education Beneš was born in Lišice, Hradec Králové. He studied at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague from 1902 to 1904 and the Acade ...

and

Bohumil Kubišta Bohumil Kubišta (21 August 1884 in Vlčkovice, Bohemia – 27 November 1918 in Prague)Chilvers, Ian, and John Glaves-Smith. "Kubišta, Bohumil." in ''A Dictionary of Modern and Contemporary Art''. Oxford University Press, 2009. Oxford Reference ...

. Along with the Black Madonna House and the Museum Kampa, the Trade fair palace collection is one of the most notable collections of Czech Cubism in Prague. Notable works include ''Don Quixote'' by Gutfreund, ''Military Funeral'' by Beneš, an array of paintings by Kupka, covering almost all of the styles with which he experimented. *

House of the Black Madonna The House of the Black Madonna (Czech: ''U Černé Matky Boží'') is a cubist building in the Old Town of Prague, Czech Republic. It was designed by Josef Gočár. The first floor houses a café, while the four upper floors are used by the Museum ...

(Old Town) – Czech Cubism

Graphics Collection

* Kinský Palace (Old Town)

Oriental Art

* Kinský Palace (Old Town) – Art of Asia and Art of the Ancient World

On display outside Prague

* Kinský castle

Žďár nad Sázavou Žďár nad Sázavou (; german: Saar) is a town in the Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 20,000 inhabitants. It is situated on a major rail link between Prague and Brno. The town both industrial and tourist centre. It is known ...

– Baroque Art from the Collections of the National Gallery in Prague * Fryštát castle in Karviná – 19th-century Czech art from the Collections of the National Gallery in Prague

Gallery

References

External links

*
Collections of NGPNational Gallery Prague
within

Google Arts & Culture Google Arts & Culture (formerly Google Art Project) is an online platform of high-resolution images and videos of artworks and cultural artifacts from partner cultural organizations throughout the world. It utilizes high-resolution image technol ...

* {{Authority control 1796 establishments in the Habsburg Monarchy 1796 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century establishments in Bohemia Art museums and galleries in the Czech Republic Museums in Prague