Olomouc Museum of Art (formerly the Gallery of Fine Art) was established on 5 April 1951 as a part of the Regional Museum in Olomouc. After the year 1989 it became an independent institution with its activities (exhibitions, performances, education) now being carried out in three different locations. The Museum is operated by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. The museum has more than 85,000 collection items (paintings, sculptures, drawings, graphic art, photographs, applied art and architectural designs) which makes it the third biggest institution of its kind in the Czech Republic.
Olomouc Art Museum is an exhibition and memory institution. At present, it manages nearly 200,000 collections. The current director is Mgr. Michal Soukup, long-time associate prof. PhDr. Pavel Zatloukal, who led the institution until April 2013. The founder of the Olomouc Art Museum is the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. It is supported by the Olomouc Region. Short-term exhibitions and long-term exhibitions represent art culture from the earliest times to the present. For each exhibition he publishes a representative publication or a scientific catalog.
The Art Museum has three parts located in separate buildings where collections of old, modern and contemporary art are gathered:
Museum of Modern Art
Archdiocesan Museum Olomouc
Archdiocesan Museum of Kroměříž
It resides on the site of a former town hospital of the Holy Spirit in a late Art Nouveau building with cubic features. The reconstruction of the building took place in the years 1915-1918 and was designed by Jaroslav Kovář older. It focuses on art from the early 20th century to the present. It includes a permanent exhibition of the Century of Relativity. The largest exhibition hall for short-term exhibitions is the Trojlodí.
It was founded in 1998 in cooperation with the Archbishopric of Olomouc at the instigation of Pope John Paul II. Its main task is to present large-scale ecclesiastical collections.
In 2006 a large exposition was opened in the newly reconstructed buildings of the former Olomouc Castle on Wenceslas Square in Olomouc. The area includes m.j. Buildings of the Dean’s Chapel, the Chapel of St. Barbara, the Chapel of St. Anne and the Roman-Gothic Zdík Palace. The reconstruction of historic buildings was carried out according to the architectural design of HŠH architekti and was among other things announced by the Construction of the Olomouc Region 2006.
The Archdiocese Museum of Olomouc was nominated for the European Union Architecture Prize for the Czech Republic – the Mies van der Rohe Award.
In December 2015, the Archdiocesan Museum of Olomouc won the prestigious “European Heritage Label” in the Czech Republic. Experts appreciated its uniqueness, consisting in the scope of exhibition space, the wealth of collections and the intention to present stories that tell of shared history.
Main exhibits:
The chariot of Bishop Ferdinand Julius Troyer of Treyerstein
František Vavřinec Korompay – circuit: Festive entrance of Cardinal Ferdinand Julius Treyer to Olomouc (1783?, Oil on canvas)
Andreas Vogelhundt: Monstrance The Golden Sunset of Morava (1748-1750)
Bowl with engraving of battle
Master of the Toruń Madons – follower: Sternberg Madonna (90th of 14th century, opuka)
Pieta z Lutína
Pieta from the Křivák collection
Veit Stoss: Crucified
Olomouc follower of Veita Stosse: Retábl sv. James the Greater
Albrecht Dürer – follower: Madonna with animals
Karel Škréta: Saint Wenceslas cuts pagan idols and builds Christian churches (1641, oil on canvas)
Giovanni Battista Gaulli, called Baciccio: Crowning thorn (after 1685, oil on canvas)
MUSEUM OF MODERN ART presents both long-term and short-term exhibitions of mainly 20th and 21st century art. The building reconstruction was begun in 1991 and it lasted a decade. Since 2007 preparations have been carried out for the transformation of this part of the Museum of Art into the Olomouc Central European Forum.
ARCHDIOCESAN MUSEUM OLOMOUC was established in 1998 in cooperation with the Olomouc Archbishopric as the first museum in the Czech Republic focused on spiritual culture. Its premises also include the Romanesque Palace of the Moravian Bishops near St. Wenceslas Basilica at Olomouc Přemyslid Castle. As of the year 1999 the northern part of the former Castle was gradually reconstructed for the needs of the Museum, i.e. the building of the chapter deanery and its husbandry yard. It was opened to public on 1 June 2006.
ARCHDIOCESAN MUSEUM KROMĚŘÍŽ was (once again in cooperation with the Olomouc Archbishopric) established on 20 June 2007 as a part of the Museum at the Archbishop’s Palace in the town of Kroměříž. It administers all the local collections (paintings, drawings, graphic art, collections of coins and medals, music archive, collection of household goods and library) amounting to some 135,000 items. Apart from the gallery and historical libraries, a permanent exhibition of gardening in the Czech Lands will be opened. The Archbishop’s Palace in Kroměříž along with its unique historical gardens were proclaimed a national cultural monument in 1995 and recorded onto the UNESCO List of World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1998.