Tag Archives: Czech Republic

Railway System and Train Traveling Guide in Czech Republic

Trains in the Czech Republic are one of the most efficient methods of transportation to move from city to city, or to reach other countries in Europe. The Czech rail network is one of the densest in the world, In the Czech Republic, railways are very important and form the backbone of public transport. With Europe’s best-preserved old towns, magical castles, delicious cuisine, and mind-blowing nature, vivid Czechia promises its every guest an unforgettable experience to look back on. Traveling with trains in Czech Republic allows visitors to admire the splendid landscape of the country, while also having an efficient and convenient way of getting around. Serving about 194 million passengers annually, trains are among the most popular means of transportation in the Czech Republic thanks to their high-class service, a wide range of onboard amenities, and guaranteed safety during the entire journey. The railway system of the Czech Republic…

Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, Czech Republic

Founded in 1885, the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (UPM) is housed in a Neo-Renaissance edifice built in 1897–1901 after the designs of architect Josef Schulz. The Museum’s rich collections include decorative and applied arts and design work ranging from Late Antiquity to the present day, with focus on European objects, particularly arts and crafts 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: glass and ceramics, graphic art and design, objects made in metal, wood and other materials, jewelry, clocks and watches, textiles, fashion, toys and furniture. The museum in Prague 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…

Pleiad of Glass 1946–2019, Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague

The exhibition Pleiad of Glass 1946–2019, which has consisted of art-exhibition glass objects, has been expanded to include almost fifty large-scale sculptures from the collections of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague. “Whereas the first hall of the Pleiad of Glass exhibition showcase art glass and is evocative of a sort of museum depository, the second part of the exhibition is different,“ says curator PhDr. Sylva Petrová. “It differs in the types of glass objects, that is, in content, as well as its spatial installation design. The second hall offers mostly large-scale art glass creations that were originally designed and intended for specific architectural spaces, mostly foreign exhibitions. Thanks to the long-term exhibition Pleiad of Glass they are being shown for the first time in the restored exhibition hall of the museum’s historic building. The team entrusted with the preparations of the exhibition thought it correct to facilitate a…

Vojtěch Lanna Collection, Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague

Vojtěch (Adalbert) Lanna Jr. (1836–1909) was the most illustrious member of his family that had arrived in Bohemia from Upper Austria in the 18th century. His father, Vojtěch Lanna Sr. (1805–1866) was one of the founders of Czech industry, he was a businessman in the lumber trade, transport construction, river regulation and railway building. Through the expansion of these activities, Lanna Jr. gradually established one of the most important construction companies in Austria-Hungary. He engaged in the construction and improvement of most of the principal, still-existing, railway lines and watercourses. The company’s headquarters were located in the Lanna Palace on Hybernská Street in Prague, where the family lived. Lanna’s successful entrepreneurship is also imprinted in the two stately villas that Vojtěch Lanna used mostly for relaxation. The first edifice was built in nearby Bubeneč, the second one in Gmunden, Austria. Lanna invested a considerable portion of the huge profits in…

Time machines, Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague

Time machines, a new permanent hall dedicated to the collection of clocks and watches was newly opened in Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague. The Museum commemorates the 120th anniversary of its existence in 2005 and the aim of the museum is to open collections in the whole genre spectrum. However, the main building of the museum is currently full. On the first floor there is a permanent exhibition UPM “Stories of materials”, built since 2000, the second floor serves as a depository. In the current situation, therefore, the hall called “Time Machines” is the last section to access another part of the collections, since insufficient space can only be solved by building a new building. The collection of clocks, watches and measuring instruments shows the changes of time measurement especially in terms of artistic design of clock boxes and at the same time documents the development of clock mechanism…

Prague Fashion Houses 1900–1948, Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague

The narrative monograph captures the history of Prague’s most important fashion races, such as the salons of Hana Podolská, Oldřich Rosenbaum, Arnoštka Roubíčková and František Bárta, and describes the development of fashion creation in the period 1900–1948. We follow the development of the tailoring craft, its transformation into applied art, the transformation of world fashion and the transformation of tailors themselves from craftsmen to artists and traders. The publication captures the extraordinary fate of salon owners against the background of revolutionary historical events. As a free continuation of the cycle “Czech Fashion”, carried out by the Museum of Decorative Arts in 1989 & mdash; 2007, the current exhibition on a set of eighty garments represents the rise and decline of Prague fashion salons in the period 1900 & mdash; 1948. Examples of thirty-five races, including the most luxurious companies such as Rosenbaum, Podolska, Roubíčková, Bárta, as well as medium-sized and…

Alfons Mucha – The Pioneer of Art Nouveau, Museum of Decorative Arts In Prague

These selected exhibits from the Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague, supplemented by pieces from the collections of Prague City Gallery and the West Bohemian Gallery in Pilsen, present outstanding works by Alfons Mucha that came into being in the atmosphere of the emancipation of art and the onset of modernism underway in the late 19th century and early 20th century. The wide range of artistic positions at that time, manifested in the pursuit of an artistic synthesis, in the more subjective forms of Symbolism, and in the merging of different kinds of art, are all interconnected in terms of style by the characteristic decorativism of Art Nouveau, which was co-created by Mucha in particular through his designs for posters and advertisements. This exhibited set of his representative pieces is largely related to Mucha’s life and work in Paris, where he belonged among the most prominent creators of the visual…

Czech art Collection, Liberec Regional Gallery

The didactically and chronologically conceived permanent exhibition of art from the Czech lands from the early modern period to the present represents a cross-section of the painting and sculptural work of the rich collection of the Regional Gallery in Liberec. The origin of the oldest exhibited works dates back to around 1500. Baroque is represented by small still life, in contrast to the 19th century realistic and romantic landscape painting. The 20th century, with its countless “isms”, occupies the largest part of the space and represents irreplaceable masterpieces in the context of their origin. The concept of the exposition of the second half of the 20th century is based on important dates of the political history of our country. In accordance with the historical development, the basic names of the artists are mentioned, all important creative movements are mentioned, and the most important mjoments in the development of Czech fine…

Heinrich von Liebieg Collection, Liberec Regional Gallery

The basis of this collection is the legacy of the great entrepreneur Heinrich Liebieg (1839-1904), a generous patron, collector and member of the honorary curatorium of the North Bohemian Industrial Museum. Over the years, this unique private collection has been expanded to include the acquisition of the city of Liberec (by the Liebieg Fund), the Liberec Museum and, since 1953, the Regional Gallery in Liberec. The paintings by German authors represent a representative cross-section of the developmental tendencies of German painting in the second half of the 19th century. The most numerous group is represented by artists studying or working in Munich. Early Munich open-air painting is represented by paintings by Max Haushoffer, the painter of the Chiemsee. Rare paintings with figurative themes by the realist Wilhelm Leibl complement the works of painters of the so-called Leibl circle (Wilhelm Trübner, Johannes Sperl). The Munich Biedermeier genre is represented by Carl…

The golden age of Dutch painting, Liberec Regional Gallery

The core of the collection consists of Dutch paintings of the 17th century. The visitor can admire the breadth of interests of Dutch painters, their attention to detail, the sense of everyday poetry, technical and technological skills. Behind the works is a statement about the power of the then growing democracy, but also the revelation of some of its other side. The Liberec collection of the so-called “little masters” (unlike the “big” masters, such as Rembrandt van Rijn or Jan Vermeer) was not established until the 1960s thanks to the then director, Dr. Hana Seifertová. The exception is the rare still life of Jan Davidsz. de Heem from the legacy of the great industrialist Heinrich Liebieg. Several paintings have also been purchased in the last fifteen years thanks to funds from special funds of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. From the point of view of the representation…

Egon Schiele Art Center, Český Krumlov, Czech Republic

The Egon Schiele Art Center (Czech: Egon Schiele Art Centrum) is a museum and gallery in Český Krumlov in the Czech Republic. The private non-profit organization deals with the Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918), with classical art of the 20th century and contemporary art. The Egon Schiele Art Centrum was established in 1992 by a group of Czechs, Austrians and Americans. Since 1993 it has presented a permanent exhibition of the works of Egon Schiele in addition to annual displays of 20th-century art by artists such as Picasso, Dalí, and Klimt. The creation of the Egon Schiele Art Center – 1992/93 – is the work of a private initiative of three people who, in an emergency after the fall of the Iron Curtain between Eastern and Western Europe, have been very much committed to realizing the idea of an international cultural center in one of the most beautiful Renaissance cities…

Jewish Museum in Prague, Czech Republic

The Jewish Museum in Prague (Czech: Židovské muzeum v Praze) is a museum of Jewish heritage in the Czech Republic. The Jewish Museum in Prague is one of the oldest and continually existing Jewish museums in the world. Its collection of Judaica is one of the largest in the world, about 40,000 objects, 100,000 books, and a copious archive of Czech and Moravian Jewish community histories. He manages a large collection of judaics and a rich book and archive fund. Most of the exhibits come from the property of Jewish communities and families that were slaughtered during the Holocaust. In addition to its tragic war fate, the collection is also unique because it comes from a single territory. In its summary, it gives a holistic picture of the life and history of the Jews in the region of Bohemia and Moravia and is the bearer of their cultural and spiritual…

Knihovna Václava Havla (Vaclav Havel Library) Prague, Czechia

The Václav Havel Library collects, researches, disseminates, promotes and advocates the spiritual, literary and political legacy of a great figure of modern Czech history – the author, playwright, thinker, human rights defender and Czechoslovak and Czech president. It also focuses on people, events and phenomena related to the legacy of Václav Havel and strives to place them in the context of the times and of the present. From August 2014, the Václav Havel Library is located at the address Ostrovní 13, Prague 1. The building’s ground-floor spaces is dedicated to an exhibition “Václav Havel or Havel in a nutshell” and used for VHL club events – all kinds of seminars, readings, exhibitions, lectures, concerts and theatre performances. The Library’s offices, archive, constantly expanding library, and reading room are located on the first floor. The main aims of the Václav Havel Library include – Organizing archival, archival-research, documentary, museum and library…

Museum Kampa, Prague, Czechia

Museum Kampa is a modern art gallery in Prague, Czech Republic, showing Central European, and in particular Czech work. Museum Kampa is located in the former Sova Mills on Prague’s Kampa Island.The pieces are from the private collection of Meda Mládek, wife of Jan V. Mládek. The museum opened in 2003 and is housed in the Sova’s Mills on the eastern bank of the Kampa Island on the River Vltava. The museum features works from the collection of the modern Central European art of Jan and Meda Mládek, apart from the collections of the pioneer of the abstract art of František Kupka and the Czech Cubist sculptor Otta Gutfreund, as well as works by prominent Central European artists from the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and the former Yugoslavia. The building of former Sov’s mills where the museum is located, named after Vaclav Sova from Liboslavi, which owned the mill…

Prague National Theatre, Czech Republic

The National Theatre (Czech: Národní divadlo) in Prague is known as the alma mater of Czech opera, and as the national monument of Czech history and art. The National Theatre is the Czech Republic’s representative stage. It is one of the symbols of Czech national identity and a part of the European cultural arena. It is a bearer of national cultural heritage and at the same time an arena for free artistic creativity. The theatre is a living artistic organisation which understands tradition as imposing a task and duty to find constantly new interpretation and an endeavour to achieve the highest artistic quality. Today’s National Theatre comprises four artistic ensembles – Opera, Drama, Ballet and Laterna magika – which alternate in performances in the historic building of the National Theatre, the State Opera, the Estates Theatre and the New Stage. Opera, Ballet and Drama choose their repertoire not only from…

Oblastní galerie Liberec, Czech Republic

Oblastní galerie Liberec (The Liberec Regional Gallery) is a Liberec Art Gallery established by the Liberec Region as a contributory organization. The Liberec Regional Gallery is a specialized collector institution – the Museum of Art – operating in the Liberec region. It takes care of extensive artistic collections and offers visitors a tour of three permanent exhibitions of European and Czech art. The change of the seat of the gallery is also related to the name change – since January 1, 2014, the official name of the Regional Gallery of Liberec. Since its inception, the gallery has hosted more than 700 exhibitions. History The beginnings of the Gallery as a legally independent institution date back to the period following the Second World War. On September 19, 1945, the Liberec museum board of trustees was established to solve the future of the North Bohemia Museum art collections. The board decided that…