National Gallery
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Surrounded by the decorative Art Nouveau buildings of Holešovice, the austere Veletržní Palace is a daring work of art in itself. It was the first official Functionalist building in Europe, and even Le Corbusier was impressed by the eight-storey edifice when he visited Prague in 1928. After years as a trade fair complex, plans to turn the building into the home of the National Gallery’s modern art collection were launched in 1979. Alongside prominent Czech contributions to modern art is a rich array of international masters from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
For details of other National Gallery sites in Prague (see Museums and Galleries)
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1. House in Aix-en-Provence
The National Gallery’s impressive collection of French art was begun in 1923, when Czech president Tomáš Masaryk helped found a small collection. This bright landscape by Paul Cézanne was one of those original 25 pieces.
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2. Bonjour, Monsieur Gauguin
Paul Gaugín’s simple, flat self-portrait was originally painted as a decoration for the lower panel of a dining-room door for a house in Brittany. The much-admired 19th-century French artist made this enlarged copy in 1889.
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3. Rider Jaguar Attacking a Horseman
Delacroix often visited zoos to study predatory animals whose movement inspired him. This small canvas from 1853 is a fine example of such research, and is striking for its interaction of colour and motion.
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4. Green Wheat
Van Gogh’s encounter with Impressionism was a decisive moment. Charmed by the countryside of southern France, he began to create bright canvases such as this landscape.
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5. St John the Baptist
Auguste Rodin’s 1878 sculpture is a study of spiral motion, from the tension of the firmly anchored feet, to the rotating trunk, to the head turned away from the dominant gesture of the right hand.
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6. Head of a Young Girl
Created in 1926, Henri Laurens’ sculpture is a synthesis of Cubism and the Classical ideal of form and beauty. The National Gallery added Laurens’ bronze to its collection in 1935.
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7. At the Moulin Rouge
Toulouse-Lautrec thrived on depictions of Paris nightlife such as this oil tempura on cardboard. One of the dancing women is his muse, Jane Avril. Oscar Wilde is one of the figures in the background.
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8. Myself, Self Portrait
With elements of modern civilization in the background Henri Rousseau’s self portrait depicts the artist as a self-assured personality.
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9. Self Portrait
One of 14 Picassos donated by former National Museum director Vincenc Kramář in 1960, the almond-shaped eyes and triangular nose testify to the influence of Iberian art and sculpture.
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10. Anxiety
Otto Gutfreund paved the way for modern Czech sculpture. This bronze captures the apprehension of man in the early 20th century.
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