History
Its history dates back to the 18th century (exactly February 5, 1796 ), when a group of prominent representatives of Bohemia patriotic aristocracy and Enlightened middle-class intellectuals decided to elevate what they called "debased artistic taste" of the local population. It houses the National Gallery's collection of modern art. The institution, which received the title Society of Patriotic Friends of the Arts established the Academy of Fine Arts and the Picture Gallery. In 1918 the Picture Gallery became a central collection of newly formed Czechoslovakia. In 1995 a new gallery dedicated to modern art opened in the refurbished Veletržní Palác (Trade-fair Palace).
Read more about this topic: National Gallery In Prague
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The reverence for the Scriptures is an element of civilization, for thus has the history of the world been preserved, and is preserved.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“... that there is no other way,
That the history of creation proceeds according to
Stringent laws, and that things
Do get done in this way, but never the things
We set out to accomplish and wanted so desperately
To see come into being.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
“Bias, point of view, fury—are they ... so dangerous and must they be ironed out of history, the hills flattened and the contours leveled? The professors talk ... about passion and point of view in history as a Calvinist talks about sin in the bedroom.”
—Catherine Drinker Bowen (1897–1973)