Prague Art Galleries: From Medieval to Modern (Local Guide)
Prague Guide
Prague Art Galleries — From Medieval Masters to Contemporary Art
By Uliana Formina · top-category licensed Prague guide · 17 years of experience
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Prague's art scene stretches from 14th-century panel paintings in Gothic churches to industrial-scale video installations in converted warehouses. The range is extraordinary — and because the city never suffered the kind of wartime destruction that emptied galleries elsewhere in Europe, many collections have been in place for centuries.
We walk past these galleries every day with visitors, and the question is always the same: which ones are worth my time? This guide answers that question with specifics — what you will actually see inside, how much it costs, and the details that separate a meaningful visit from a dutiful one.
1. National Gallery at Veletržní Palác (Trade Fair Palace) — The Modern and Contemporary Collection
The Trade Fair Palace is a massive Functionalist building from 1928 — one of the first large-scale Functionalist structures in the world — and it houses the National Gallery's collection of 19th, 20th, and 21st-century art. The building itself is as significant as anything hanging on its walls.
What to see: Czech Cubism (the only national school of Cubist art outside France), Alfons Mucha's *Slav Epic* cycle when on display, works by František Kupka (a pioneer of abstract painting), Emil Filla, and Toyen. The international collection includes Picasso, Klimt, Schiele, and a respectable selection of French Impressionists.
Admission: 300 CZK (adults), free on the first Wednesday of each month. Combined National Gallery tickets (covering multiple venues) offer better value if you plan to visit more than one location.
Insider tip: The top-floor café has a terrace overlooking the Holešovice neighbourhood. It is one of the few gallery cafés in Prague where the view and the coffee are both good enough to warrant a separate visit.
2. DOX Centre for Contemporary Art — The Provocateur in Holešovice
DOX is Prague's most ambitious contemporary art space — a converted industrial building in Holešovice that hosts large-scale installations, photography, architecture, and design exhibitions. The programming is curated to provoke, and the gallery is not afraid of political or social themes.
What to see: Rotating exhibitions change every 2–3 months. The permanent feature is the Gulliver Airship — a wooden zeppelin-shaped structure mounted on the roof, used as a literary and performance space. The building's industrial architecture, with exposed concrete, steel walkways, and multi-level galleries, is part of the experience.
Admission: 260 CZK (adults). Check the website for current exhibitions before visiting — DOX is a single-purpose visit, and the quality varies with the programme.
Insider tip: DOX hosts excellent panel discussions, film screenings, and artist talks, often in English. The events calendar is worth checking separately from the exhibition schedule. Thursday evenings frequently feature public programmes with free admission.
3. Kampa Museum — Czech and Central European Modern Art
The Kampa Museum occupies a renovated medieval mill on Kampa Island, directly below Charles Bridge. The permanent collection focuses on Central European modern art, with particular strength in Czech abstract and Surrealist work.
What to see: The František Kupka collection — early abstract paintings that predate Kandinsky's first abstractions — is the centrepiece. Works by Otto Gutfreund (Czech Cubist sculpture), Jiří Kolář (collage), and a rotating selection of Central European artists round out the galleries. The building's location, with the Čertovka mill stream running past the windows, adds atmosphere.
Admission: 200 CZK (adults), reduced rates for students.
Insider tip: The museum's outdoor sculpture garden along the riverbank includes David Černý's giant crawling babies (the same sculptures that climb the Žižkov Television Tower). The garden is free to visit and makes a good starting point before entering the museum.
4. Prague City Gallery — Scattered Across Seven Venues
The Prague City Gallery (Galerie hlavního města Prahy, or GHMP) operates seven venues across the city, each with a different focus. This distributed model means you can encounter the gallery in unexpected places — a Baroque palace, a medieval house, a modernist villa.
Key venues:
Městská knihovna (Municipal Library) — second floor, rotating exhibitions of contemporary Czech art. Central location on Mariánské náměstí.
Dům U Zlatého prstenu (House at the Golden Ring) — medieval building near Old Town Square, hosting Czech 20th-century art in an atmospheric setting.
Colloredo-Mansfeld Palace — Baroque palace on Karlova Street, used for major temporary exhibitions.
Troja Château — 17th-century summer palace with frescoed ceilings, hosting art exhibitions in rooms that are themselves works of art.
Admission: Varies by venue, typically 120–200 CZK. A combined ticket covers all seven galleries.
Insider tip: The Municipal Library venue is the most undervisited. Its location — in a functional public library that most tourists walk past — means the galleries are often nearly empty, even when the exhibitions are excellent.
5. Rudolfinum — Galerie Rudolfinum
The Rudolfinum, Prague's neo-Renaissance concert hall on Jan Palach Square, houses a gallery on its upper floors that focuses on contemporary art exhibitions of international scope. The programming is ambitious — single-artist shows, thematic group exhibitions, and occasional collaborations with major European institutions.
What to see: The gallery presents 3–4 major exhibitions per year. The space itself — high ceilings, ornate architectural details, generous natural light — creates a dialogue between the 19th-century building and whatever contemporary work fills it.
Admission: 120 CZK (adults).
Insider tip: Combine a gallery visit with a concert at the Rudolfinum's Dvořák Hall — one of the finest concert venues in Central Europe. The Czech Philharmonic performs here regularly, and the acoustic quality is world-class.
6. Národní Galerie at Šternberský Palác — European Old Masters
The Sternberg Palace (Šternberský palác), located behind Prague Castle on Hradčanské náměstí, houses the National Gallery's collection of European art from antiquity through the Baroque period. This is where Prague keeps its Old Masters.
What to see: Albrecht Dürer's *Feast of the Rose Garlands* (1506) — painted in Venice and brought to Prague by Rudolf II — is the crown jewel. The collection includes works by Cranach, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt, and Tintoretto. The medieval panel painting collection, drawn from Bohemian churches, includes works by Master Theodoric from Karlštejn Castle.
Admission: 220 CZK (adults), included in combined National Gallery tickets.
Insider tip: The Master Theodoric panels — originally from the Chapel of the Holy Cross at Karlštejn — are among the finest examples of 14th-century Bohemian painting. If you plan to visit Karlštejn Castle on a day trip, seeing these panels first gives the castle visit significantly more context.
7. Convent of St Agnes — Medieval Bohemian Art
The Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia (Anežský klášter), a 13th-century Gothic complex in the Old Town, houses the National Gallery's collection of medieval and early Renaissance art from Bohemia and Central Europe. The building is as important as the art — it is one of the oldest Gothic structures in Prague.
What to see: The collection spans the 13th to 16th centuries, with panel paintings, altarpieces, and sculpture from Bohemian monasteries and churches. Highlights include works by the Master of the Vyšší Brod Altar and the Master of the Třeboň Altar — anonymous medieval painters whose technical skill and emotional depth rival their Italian contemporaries.
Admission: 220 CZK (adults), included in combined National Gallery tickets.
Insider tip: The convent's cloister and chapel are exhibition spaces in their own right. The interplay between the Gothic architecture and the medieval art creates a coherence that purpose-built galleries cannot replicate. Visit on a weekday morning for near-solitude.
A private guide makes all the difference when exploring this part of Prague.
8. Mucha Museum — Art Nouveau's Czech Master
The Mucha Museum on Panská Street (near Wenceslas Square) is dedicated to Alfons Mucha, the Czech artist who defined the Art Nouveau poster style in 1890s Paris. The museum is small but focused, covering his commercial work, his paintings, his photography, and his monumental *Slav Epic* cycle.
What to see: Original poster designs for Sarah Bernhardt's theatre productions, jewellery designs for Georges Fouquet, and preparatory studies for the *Slav Epic*. The museum provides context that transforms Mucha from a poster designer into a serious nationalist artist who used beauty as a political tool.
Admission: 350 CZK (adults).
Insider tip: The *Slav Epic* — Mucha's 20-canvas masterwork depicting Slavic history — moves between venues. When it is on display at the Veletržní palác, it is worth seeing in person: each canvas is roughly 6 by 8 metres, and the scale is overwhelming. Check current exhibition locations before your visit.
9. Kunsthalle Praha — The Newest Major Gallery
Kunsthalle Praha opened in 2022 in a converted Zenger electrical substation near Prague Castle. The building — a Brutalist-era industrial structure with raw concrete walls and a dramatic central atrium — has been sensitively adapted into a contemporary art space.
What to see: The gallery has no permanent collection; it operates entirely on temporary exhibitions, with a focus on contemporary art that engages with social and political themes. The programming since opening has been strong and internationally oriented.
Admission: 250 CZK (adults).
Insider tip: The rooftop terrace offers one of the least-known views of Prague Castle — you are almost at the same elevation as the Castle walls, looking at the fortifications from an angle that no tourist viewpoint provides.
10. Gallery of Steel Figures — Industrial Sculpture
An unconventional addition: the Gallery of Steel Figures near Charles Bridge (on Mostecká Street in Malá Strana) displays large-scale sculptures made entirely from recycled steel and scrap metal. The figures range from life-size motorcycles to 3-metre-tall movie characters and animals.
What to see: Over 120 sculptures created by Czech metalworkers, each assembled from thousands of individual steel components — bolts, chains, gears, springs. The craftsmanship is genuinely impressive, and the gallery appeals to visitors who might not set foot in a traditional art museum.
Admission: 290 CZK (adults).
Insider tip: The workshop produces commissions for international clients and will create custom pieces. If industrial art interests you, the staff can explain the construction process in detail — each figure takes 200–800 hours to assemble.
How to Save on Gallery Admission
Combined National Gallery tickets cover Veletržní palác, Šternberský palác, Anežský klášter, and Schwarzenberský palác for a single price (typically 500 CZK) — significantly cheaper than buying individual tickets for three or more venues.
First Wednesday free: The National Gallery offers free admission to all its venues on the first Wednesday of every month. Plan around this if possible.
Student and senior discounts apply at virtually every gallery in Prague. Carry ID.
Prague City Gallery combined tickets cover all seven GHMP venues — useful if you plan to visit more than two.
Prague's Culture Mile
Prague does not have a single museum district, but a natural corridor of galleries and cultural venues runs from Holešovice (Veletržní palác, DOX) south through the Old Town (Rudolfinum, Convent of St Agnes, City Gallery venues) and across the river to Malá Strana and the Castle district (Kampa Museum, Kunsthalle Praha, Šternberský palác).
Walking this route covers roughly 5 kilometres and passes through three distinct neighbourhoods. You can see world-class art, cross two bridges, and experience three very different atmospheres in a single day. For a comprehensive exploration, our All Prague in One Day private tour covers this corridor naturally.
Our guide to Prague's best museums covers institutions beyond art galleries — history, science, and applied arts — and complements this list for visitors who want to go deeper.
Experience It With a Private Guide
Prague's galleries reward context. Understanding why Czech Cubism matters, what Kupka's abstractions meant in 1912, or how Master Theodoric's Karlštejn panels connect to the history of Bohemian kings transforms a gallery visit from passive looking into active engagement.
Our Charles Bridge and Old Town walking tour passes the Convent of St Agnes, the Rudolfinum, and several City Gallery venues — and our guides can adjust the route to include gallery stops based on your interests.
For art in a completely different register, our medieval dinner experience is performance art of the most visceral kind — fire dancers, swordfighters, and period musicians in a vaulted 15th-century cellar. It is not a gallery, but it is unforgettable.
What is the best art gallery in Prague? For range and depth, the National Gallery at Veletržní palác (Trade Fair Palace) covers the most ground — Czech Cubism, Kupka's abstractions, Mucha, and international modern art in a landmark Functionalist building. For contemporary art, DOX is the most consistently ambitious.
Is the National Gallery in Prague free? The National Gallery offers free admission on the first Wednesday of every month at all its venues. Regular adult tickets range from 220–300 CZK depending on the venue. Combined tickets offer better value for multiple visits.
How much time should I spend in Prague galleries? Veletržní palác and DOX each merit 2–3 hours. Smaller galleries (Kampa, Rudolfinum, Kunsthalle) take 1–1.5 hours. A full day allows three major venues with breaks. Trying to see everything in a single day leads to fatigue.
Are Prague galleries open on Mondays? Most major galleries — including the National Gallery venues and DOX — are closed on Mondays. Kampa Museum is open daily. Always check individual gallery websites for current hours, as schedules change seasonally.
Where can I see Alfons Mucha's art in Prague? The Mucha Museum on Panska Street has a permanent collection. The Slav Epic cycle moves between venues — check whether it is currently displayed at Veletrzni palac or at another location. Mucha's decorative work also appears in the Municipal House (Obecni dum) interiors.
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