National Gallery in Prague
Encyclopedia
The National Gallery in Prague is a state-owned art gallery in Prague
, Czech Republic
. It is housed in different locations within the city, the largest being the Veletržní Palác.
Its history dates back to the 18th century (exactly February 5, 1796), when a group of prominent representatives of Bohemia
patriotic aristocracy and Enlightened middle-class intellectuals decided to elevate what they called "debased artistic taste" of the local population. It houses the National Gallery's collection of modern art. 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
.
The vast collection contains a large number of Czech and Slovak paintings and sculptures, including works by Gutfreund, Kupka, Fila, Benes and Bohumil Kubišta
. The international collection includes numerous works by artists such as Picasso, Rodin, Gauguin, Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and Klimt; many of these are donations from the collection of art historian Vincenc Kramář.
Along with the Black Madonna House and the Kampa museum the trade fair palace collection is one of the most notable collections of Czech Cubism
in Prague. Notable works include Don Quixote by Otto Gutfreund
, Military Funeral by Vincenc Benes and an array of paintings by František Kupka
, covering almost all of the styles with which he experimented.
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 to come, include a series of busts and full-sized figure on a variety of subjects in the gallery.
The international section is most notable for works by Austrians Egon Schiele
and Gustav Klimt
, Norwegian Edvard Munch
and some abstract work by Joan Miró
.
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
. It is housed in different locations within the city, the largest being the Veletržní Palác.
Its history dates back to the 18th century (exactly February 5, 1796), when a group of prominent representatives of Bohemia
Bohemian
A Bohemian is a resident of the former Kingdom of Bohemia, either in a narrow sense as the region of Bohemia proper or in a wider meaning as the whole country, now known as the Czech Republic. The word "Bohemian" was used to denote the Czech people as well as the Czech language before the word...
patriotic aristocracy and Enlightened middle-class intellectuals decided to elevate what they called "debased artistic taste" of the local population. It houses the National Gallery's collection of modern art. 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
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
.
The vast collection contains a large number of Czech and Slovak paintings and sculptures, including works by Gutfreund, Kupka, Fila, Benes and Bohumil Kubišta
Bohumil Kubista
Bohumil Kubišta was a Czech painter and art critic, one of the founders of Czech modern painting. He studied at the School of Applied Arts in Prague, but left in 1906 to study at the Reale Istituto di Belle Arti in Florence...
. The international collection includes numerous works by artists such as Picasso, Rodin, Gauguin, Cezanne, Monet, Van Gogh, Renoir and Klimt; many of these are donations from the collection of art historian Vincenc Kramář.
Along with the Black Madonna House and the Kampa museum the trade fair palace collection is one of the most notable collections of Czech Cubism
Czech Cubism
Czech Cubism was an avant-garde art movement of Czech proponents of Cubism, active mostly in Prague from 1910 to 1914.Members of this movement realised the epochal significance of the Cubism of Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque and attempted to extract its components for their own work in all...
in Prague. Notable works include Don Quixote by Otto Gutfreund
Otto Gutfreund
Otto Gutfreund was a Czech-Czechoslovak cubist sculptor. He is acknowledged by the art historian Douglas Cooper to be the author of the first cubist sculpture: Anxiety , created in 1911 and exhibited in Paris in 1912.- Life :...
, Military Funeral by Vincenc Benes and an array of paintings by František Kupka
František Kupka
František Kupka was a Czech painter and graphic artist. He was a pioneer and co-founder of the early phases of the abstract art movement and Orphic cubism...
, covering almost all of the styles with which he experimented.
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 to come, include a series of busts and full-sized figure on a variety of subjects in the gallery.
The international section is most notable for works by Austrians Egon Schiele
Egon Schiele
Egon Schiele was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity, and the many self-portraits the artist produced...
and Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects...
, Norwegian Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch
Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...
and some abstract work by Joan Miró
Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish Catalan painter, sculptor, and ceramicist born in Barcelona.Earning international acclaim, his work has been interpreted as Surrealism, a sandbox for the subconscious mind, a re-creation of the childlike, and a manifestation of Catalan pride...
.