2020 Exhibitions in the Czech Republic

National Gallery in Prague

The National Gallery in Prague has prepared a lot of exhibitions for 2020; there will be something for everyone. In the year when the National Gallery celebrates its 224^th anniversary, the gallery will open at the beginning of March with the traditional Grand Opening of the Trade Fair Palace. The gallery will present the most comprehensive retrospective of the sixty years of work of sculptor Kurt Gebauer (6/3 – 2/8). With the prospect of more and more frequent demolitions, there will be an exhibition on brutalism in Prague architecture in 1960 – 1980 (6/3 – 6/9). The exhibition will present original plans accompanied by collages, photos, models and fragments of buildings that no longer exist, with period furniture or artistic sculptures. Another project of the National Gallery, the exhibition A Dream in a Dream: Edgar Allan Poe (6/3 – 30/8), is dedicated to the phenomenon of horror and fear and the reflections of the abundant works by Edgar Allan Poe in the artwork of František Kupka, Josef Váchal, Alfred Kubín and other artists.

In April, the National Gallery will launch its pivotal project focusing on old art – Rembrandt: Portrait of a Man(17/4 – 30/8) in the Kinsky Palace at the Old Town Square on the 350^th anniversary of the artist’s death. In addition to the famous Scholar in the Study, the exhibition will also present many exceptional works loaned by famous international museums, such as the New York Metropolitan Museum, the London National Gallery, or Albertina in Vienna, as well as from private collections. In June, the National Gallery’s Collection of Old Art will open the second part of the collection exposition of old masters in the Sternberg Palace.

The National Gallery is also preparing an extensive project commemorating Mikuláš Medek, one of the most distinguished personalities of Czech post-war art. The main part of the exhibition will be open in the Waldstein Riding School (22/5 – 22/11), accompanied by a presentation of Medek’s sacral works in the Convent of St. Agnes of Bohemia, and the Trade Fair Palace.

The exhibition year in the National Gallery will end with the opening of another fundamental project – the exhibition of The Buddha up Close in the Kinsky Palace (6/11 – 7/3/2021). The masterpieces of Buddhist art will be presented in cooperation with the Zurych Rietberg Museum for the very first time.
Also, the exhibition of photographs by Frida Kahlo, a Mexican artist, will be a great attraction; you can see hundreds of famous and unknown photographs in the Stone Bell House at the Old Town Square (2/12 – 11/4/2021). This exhibition is organised by the Prague City Gallery.

Exhibitions at Prague Castle

Art lovers should not miss Prague Castle. There are also some very interesting events and exhibitions there. The Imperial Stables of the Prague Castle will host an exhibition on the Prague Castle Motifs on Coins, Banknotes and Medals (9/10 – 9/1/2021). The individual motifs will be accompanied by originals, reproductions or photographs of the displayed elements so that visitors can compare the design with the real legal tender or medal.

However, the greatest crowd-puller will arrive at the end of the year. The Prague Castle Riding School is preparing an exhibition on John Amos Comenius, dedicated to this Czech philosopher, scholar and theologian of early Modern Times. The main goal of the exhibition is to teach visitors about his life, period context, work and his international meaning through artwork and period documents. A lot of the exhibits will be on display for the first time in history!

Exhibitions outside Prague

If you travel outside Prague, you can come across interesting exhibitions during 2020. What is the South Moravian capital of Brno offering? For example, the exhibition Czech Crown Jewels within Reachin the Mitrovský Summer Villa. The innovated exposition with a master replica of the most valuable Czech treasure – the crown jewels – will also present replicas of the medieval sceptre and orb, as well as the coronation sword. The concept of the exhibition is dedicated to the fates of twenty-two crowned rulers. Fashion lovers will enjoy the exhibition Like a Rose. Fashion as a Mirror of the Time, which is open in the Dietrichstein Palace (24/1 – 23/8). You can see extravagantly designed dresses made of precious materials from the end of the 19^th century and early 20^th century, clothes from the first decade of the 20^th century, the sober variable suits from WWI, as well as dresses with a dropped waistline typical of the 1920s.

During the summer, you can visit the International Biennial of Student Design, Design.s 2020 in the Technical Museum in Brno (23/6 – 27/9). The greatest crowd-puller of Brno’s Špilberk Castle will definitely be European Adolf Loos  (3/6 – 31/12). The 150^th anniversary of the Brno native’s birth will be in December and he was known for his typical Raumplan (spatial plan), a specific principle of arranging the internal space of a building; you can see it with your own eyes, for example, in the Müller Villa in Prague Střešovice.

More Beautiful than the Sun is an exhibition from a completely different area in the Masné krámy Exhibition Hall in West Bohemian Plzen (27/11 – 28/3). The exhibition will be dedicated to beautiful statues of the Madonna, especially the Pilsen Madonna, the most valuable artwork of West Bohemia, and also the most worshipped one. The marlstone statue made in the first half of 1380s continues to adorn the altar of St. Bartholomew Cathedral in the city centre.