St George's Convent: Czech Romantic landscape painter Adolf Chwala

The National Gallery in Prague was born on 5 February 1796, when a group of leading representatives of the patriotically inclined Czech nobility joined with members of the Enlightenment middle class to, in the language of the era "elevate the low tastes of the public." Their Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts went on to found two important Prague institutions: The Academy of Art and the Picture Gallery. This latter institutions is the forerunner to today's National Gallery.

Today, the National Gallery consists of  Convent of eight venues in Prague, plus Žďár nad Sázavou Castle (about an hour's drive south of Prague). These are: The Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia (medieval art), Sternberg Palace (European Art from the Classical Era to the Close of the Baroque), Schwarzenberg Palace (Baroque in Bohemia), St George's Convent (19th-century Art in Bohemia), Kinský Palace (Art of Asia and the Ancient Mediterranian), House at the Black Madonna (Czech Cubism), Veletržní Palace (Art of the 19th, 20th and 21st Centuries), and the Wallenstein Riding School (large temporary exhibitions).

At NGPrague.cz, you can check out the current gallery program. Pick your poison and head on down this weekend!

See also:

• David LaChapelle - Photographs
• Prague Museums
• Middle East Europe at the DOX Centre for Contemporary Art