230 Years of the NGP

In 1912 Vratislav Nechleba offered the gallery his self-portrait. Jakub Schikaneder, on the purchasing committee, called it so terrible it could hardly be called art. Preisler and Švabinský outvoted him, and he resigned rather than watch the Modern Gallery become "a collection of curiosities". The painting hangs here, one of the larger canvases in a show built from stories like that.

About 70 works from all five NGP collections are split into ten chapters of 23 years each, roughly one generation of visitors, and hung by when they entered the collection, not when they were made. So you find Josef Mánes beside a 17th-century painter, and walk on past Picasso and Kubišta to Toyen, Mikuláš Medek and Krištof Kintera's sculpture. Archival photographs track the gallery's moves between buildings.

It sits inside the permanent 1796–1918: Art of the Long Century display, south wing, 4th floor. Entry is 250 CZK, 140 discounted, free under 16, Tuesday to Sunday 10:00 to 18:00, until 3 January 2027.