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| The grim looking Veletrzni Palac |
A disappointing experience in Prague was my visit to the Veletrzni Palac (Trade Fair Palace). This museum holds the largest collection of modern and contemporary art in the city. The artwork is housed in a huge, ugly grey hulk of a building that looks like a communist era construction. But it was built in the 1920s, in the avant grade "Functionalist" style.
The interior isn't much better- linoleum floors with industrial lighting...and color-wise, there's some strange stuff going on here: pink walls with pink labels for some exhibits- disturbing! There were some lovely artworks, but it seemed that they were few and far between.
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| A few gems: Gustav Klimt and Alfons Mucha |
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Detail from Slav Epic: Holy Mount Athos
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The museum's saving grace is a cavernous gallery on the ground floor where Czech artist Alfons Mucha's impressive Slav Epic is displayed. Mucha created this series of monumental canvases between 1910 and 1928. The 20 paintings depict the mythology and history of Czechs and other Slavic peoples.
This is a beautiful exhibit! Being almost alone in such a vast, silent space, surrounded by Mucha's massive, atmospheric paintings, was an amazing experience.
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| Alfons Mucha's Slav Epic |
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