In a country rife with culture, it’s difficult to demonstrate all of its historical and scientific achievements. The National Museum somehow pulled it off. With over 14 million items ranging from natural history, arts, music, and so forth, this museum can easily take up a whole day. Luckily, it’s organized into different departments: from Ethnography to Theater. This is the best way to view the entire spectrum of Prague.
On the outskirts of the bustling Old Town Square is the smallest sub-area in Prague, the Jewish Quarter. Here you can see the narrow streets that inspired the surrealist thought of famous Czech author, Franz Kafka. Although the Jewish quarters have not been as well preserved as the rest of the city, the Jewish Museum in Prague provides a collection of Jewish artifacts that illustrate the lives of Jews in Prague as well as Europe.
Art Museums
As intellectual and historical as Prague is, it’s also beautiful. The city itself is an exhibition, with a large castle as a backdrop and its Astronomical Clock in the city center, walking around will satisfy any appetite for art. But it doesn’t end there. The Museum of Decorative Arts focuses on decorative and applied arts ranging from Late Antiquity to the present-day. Its mission is to inspire and preserve for future generations examples of historical and contemporary crafts, applied arts, and design. If you want to see an extensive history of design, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, glass, and so on, this museum is the way to go. For a more traditional art museum—one with actual paintings—the not-so-traditional modern art museum, National Gallery, contains the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic. The collections are displayed in different historic buildings all over the city. With international works from, Rodin, Gauguin, Renoir, Picasso, and Van Gogh, this is a must-visit for any level of art admirer. It also has a vast collection of Czech artists, who were relevant in modern art movements.
Collections of Famous Czech’s
If you wanted to get a more close-up and personal understanding of famous Czech thinkers and painters, commemorative collections are all over the city. The Franz Kafka Museum is as strange as Kafka’s work. It’s a small exhibition that attempts to understand the mind of Prague’s most famous writer. Fashioned gothic and mystical like Kafka, it exhibits torture machines and eerie music, illustrating his surreal life and work. Also, after a strange visit to the exhibit, you can stroll along the river to a street-full of cafes and pubs. Another Czech innovator, Alphonse Mucha, has a modest exhibition—Mucha Museum—where you can view a gallery of his famous Art Nouveau paintings. His illustrations of women have become the poster-child for Bohemia, Psychedelia, and contemporary art. You've seen his art, without realizing, on postcards, French art, and classic rock posters. His artistic revival, is captured beautifully in this small exhibit of his life and work.
Art in Strange Places
If you’ve taken our advice, your pocket-book may be empty. Museums aren't free, after all. For a cheap and spontaneous way to view art, wander through the narrow corridors around the city. You will be sure to find many different art galleries, free: paintings of the city, the surreal, and similar sculptures. Also be sure to hunt got local sculptor, David Cerný’s work, hidden all over the city. His work is controversial and entertaining. As you walk along the river bank, you will stumble upon massive, crawling, face-less babies, or an offensive fountain or two. Prague has become this sculptor’s playground, adding to the surreal air of the city. Another art anomaly is the famous Dancing House, Fred and Ginger. The building itself is an artistic accomplishment. Juxtaposed next to classical Baroque architecture, it’s hard to miss. Inside the Dancing House is a contemporary café and an elegant restaurant. There is also an art gallery with a permanent exhibition of the building’s origins and architecture. The place’s best well-kept secret: sneak onto the roof to get a great view of the city.
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