The 226th anniversary of the founding of the National Gallery in Prague will be accompanied by a rich program
The history of the NGP collection dates back to the beginning of the 17th century, when it was part of the collection of Rudolf II. became legendary Rosary ceremony Albrecht Dürer. The famous painting remains one of the few in Prague to this day and is one of the main works of the gallery’s collection. The story of the institution itself began to be written February 5, 1796, when a group of important representatives of the patriotic Czech nobility, together with several scholars from among the townspeople, decided to raise the declining public taste. The Society of Patriotic Friends of Art was established, which soon established two institutions that Prague lacked until then – the Academy of Arts and the publicly accessible Picture Gallery.
In 1902, another important institution was added – the Modern Gallery of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The building is a collection of contemporary art from the 19th and later the 20th century – purchases of works by Antonín Slavíček, Max Švabinský, Vojtěch Preissig, Jan Preisler and later also Josef Čapek and Emil Filla began to date from that time. The modern gallery existed until 1942, when it was merged with the Picture Gallery. In 1918, the Picture Gallery of the Society of Patriotic Friends of Art was transformed into the central art collection of the new state. The following year, Vincenc Kramář took over its management, transforming it into a modern, professionally managed public gallery. In the 1920s and 1930s, the foundations of the famous French collection were laid under his leadership, which were created with the support of the top representatives of the Czechoslovak state, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and Edvar Beneš. She managed to obtain works of fundamental importance, the founding authors being Eugène Delacroix, Camille Corot, Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, André Derain and Auguste Rodin.
Over the centuries, the collections of the National Gallery have traveled to various places in Prague. Today, the institution manages six buildings in the capital – Monastery of St. Anežky České, Sternberg Palace, Schwarzenberg Palace, Salm Palace, Kinsky Palace AND Exhibition Palace; also holds short – term exhibitions in Wallenstein Riding Schoolwhich belongs to the Senate of the Parliament of the Czech Republic.
NGP invites to celebrating the 226th anniversaryready is rich accompanying program. In addition to a number of guided tours, short comments on selected works from the exhibition in the Trade Fair Palace, in the Monastery of St. Anežka Česká then reveals the visitors with exciting, famous paintings as mentioned Rosary ceremony they hide, or what these works can “experience” themselves. At the Stern Palace, those interested will find out why in the 17th century Italy dreamed of the landscape while the Dutch reshaped it, what is the difference between idyllic, heroic landscape painting and topographic factual description and what are the reasons besides this different concept.
Admission to collection exhibitions (Old Masters I, Old Masters II, Medieval Art in Bohemia and Central Europe 1200–1550, 1796–1918: The Art of the Long Century, 1918–1938: First Republic + exhibition Digital Proximity) Yippee February 5 and 6 (from 10 am to 6 pm) free of charge for visitors. More information about the accompanying program can be found on the website ngprague.cz.