9 must-see exhibitions in Prague

Rembrandt: Portrait of a Man

It’s been 350 years since the death of one of the most prominent Dutch painters, Rembrandt van Rijn. The National Gallery in Prague in collaboration with the Wallraf Richartz Museum in Cologne has prepared a representative exhibition in his honour. It will open on 25 September and close on 31 January 2021. The exhibition centres on the portrait of A Scholar in his Study, created in 1634, from the collections of the National Gallery Prague. The exhibition aims at examining the subjects of knowledge and scholarship, contemplation and intimacy from different angles – from the artist’s beginnings and early works in the context of this subject, via his growing popularity in Amsterdam in the 1630s, up to relevant works of his pupils and contemporaries, and a modern understanding of Rembrandt’s works. The exhibition will showcase a number of first-class works on loan not only from the world’s major museums and galleries including the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York, the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and the National Gallery London and Albertina in Vienna, but also from private owners.

Kings of the Sun

The Kings of the Sun exhibition, which you can visit until 7 February in 2021 in the Historical Building of the National Museum, is an extraordinary project documenting the greatest archaeological discoveries made by Czech Egyptologists in Abusir, Egypt. Visitors will have an opportunity to see generous loans from world-known museums – from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza and from various museums in Germany. Items that the National Museum has acquired as the Czech share from finds made by the expedition of Charles University in Abusir will also be on display. Treasures from the period of the 3rd to the 1st millennium BC will be exhibited. They include, for example, the unique royal statue of ruler Raneferef, one of the four pharaohs buried in Abusir, and an extensive collection of statues from the tombs of Princess Sheretnebty and scribe Nefer. And why is it entitled Kings of the Sun? You will find the answer to this question at the exhibition. We highly recommend this exhibition, and not only to lovers of Egyptology!

iMucha and Alphonse Mucha and Pasta Oner: Elusive Fusion

If you love Art Nouveau and the art of Alphonse Mucha, we definitely recommend that you should visit Prague during September. Two interesting exhibitions that revolve around this Art Nouveau master will be held there. The first of them is the Elusive Fusion exhibition in Museum Kampa, which will close on 25 October. At the exhibition you will see the harmony of two artists – Alphonse Mucha with the Art Nouveau style and the contemporary graphic and street artist, Pasta Oner. The other exhibition is iMucha in the Municipal House. The title of the exhibition itself reveals what is unique about it because visitors will have an opportunity, within the world premiere, to admire, for example, his famous posters in digitised form and set in motion. Thanks to Mucha’s posters being set in motion digitally in a highly professional manner, you will come face to face with models that have come alive, will be addressed by scenes from the Slav Epic or even by Alphonse Mucha himself. You can see this display until 31 December 2020.

100 years of the Kingdom of Puppets

This year marks exactly 100 years since the Kingdom of Puppets (Říše loutek) Theatre was founded. Today it is situated in Žatecká Street, Old Town. On this occasion, the City of Prague Museum holds an exhibition (until 31 January 2021) in the House at the Golden Ring (U Zlatého prstenu) near Old Town Square. The exhibition will feature unique historical puppets, demonstrations of sceneries, stage props and costumes. After all, even puppets have their wardrobe! The exhibition also underlines the work of those who give life to puppets. Come to broaden your cultural horizons and you will find out that puppets aren’t only associated with theatrical performances for children. Did you know, for example, that the Czech Republic, as a puppetry power, has its tradition of folk puppetry included in the UNESCO heritage list?

Mikuláš Medek – Naked in the Thorns

Painter Mikuláš Medek was one of the most prominent representatives of Czech post-war art, that is the art of the 2^nd half of the 20th century. The National Gallery decided to present him at a retrospective exhibition that you can visit in the Convent of St Agnes, in the Waldstein Riding School and, partly, in the Trade Fair Palace from 11 September to 10 January 2021. The goal of the exhibition is to present Mikuláš Medek as an artist, a world-known artist, while simultaneously showing him as a man who influenced many illustrious artists of his generation with his attitude to life and opinions. It should be one of the most comprehensive exhibitions considering the scope of Medek’s oeuvre. At the same time, it should show works that usually aren’t displayed at exhibitions.

Buddha in Detail

The National Gallery Prague and the Rietberg Museum in Zürich will present masterpieces of Buddhist art from their collections in the autumn and winter from 6 November to 7 March 2021. The history of Buddhist art from its beginnings will be presented for the first time in the Czech Republic by the Buddha in Detail exhibition. Exhibits created from the 2nd to 3rd, up to the 20th century are a selection of the most notable sculptural, painting and other works of Buddhist art from collections of both institutions. Through works of art, audio-visual and interactive features, the exhibition will guide guests through thematic chapters of Buddhist art and inform them about the origins and spread of Buddhism in Asian cultures. You will be able to see the exhibition in Kinsky Palace in Old Town Square.

Adolf Loos

The main project of the City of Prague Museum at the turn of 2020 and 2021 is the World Citizen Loos exhibition, which the museum is preparing in collaboration with the National Technical Museum. It will be open from December 2020 to August 2021 and it will remind visitors that Loos’s projects have not only been implemented in the Czech Republic but also elsewhere in Europe. As part of the exhibition, the National Technical Museum plans to build what is called Adolf Loos’s final house. It will be a wooden structure that Loos designed at the request of František Müller for Müller’s daughter Milada. However, if you arrive in Prague at an earlier date, go to the exhibition entitled Adolf Loos. The Repetition of a Genius in the gallery of the Study and Documentation Centre Norbertov (until 31 January 2021). The exhibition is dedicated to the architectural legacy of Adolf Loos, which is based on a remarkable play with space, material, furnishings and light. Or go directly on a tour of the Villa Müller at Střešovice.