Veletržní Palace celebrates 30 years since reopening
Thirty years ago, on 13 December 1995, Veletržní Palace reopened after a long reconstruction. The National Gallery thus gained a representative home for its collection of modern and contemporary art, spread across 13,500 square meters. The opening was seen as a symbolic step — after decades of cultural isolation, Prague once again aligned itself with European modernism.
The reconstruction itself, which cost one billion crowns and took nearly ten years, was a major story in its own right. Renowned architects Otakar Binar, John Eisler, Karel Hubáček, Miroslav Masák, and Emil Přikryl all took part. Their aim was to preserve the palace’s functionalist character while adapting it to the needs of a modern gallery.
Since its reopening, the palace has hosted numerous exhibitions that have drawn the attention not only of Czech audiences but also of international visitors. Alongside retrospectives of Stanislav Kolíbal, Adriena Šimotová, and Jiří Kolář, works by Andy Warhol, Josef Koudelka, and Annie Leibovitz have been presented here. Important displays of the collections of Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler and Vincenc Kramář also highlighted the links between Czech art and the broader European context.
Today, Veletržní Palace is the most visited building of the National Gallery. Its permanent exhibition of 19th–21st century art features more than two thousand works — from painting and sculpture to architecture, design, scenography, and photography. The palace has become not only a cultural hub but also a venue for social events, conferences, and fashion shows.
The significance of the palace reaches beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. Even upon its completion in 1928, it earned the admiration of Le Corbusier, and it is now considered one of the largest functionalist buildings in Europe. While expectations that it would become a Czech equivalent of London’s Tate Modern or Paris’s Centre Pompidou were not fully met, Veletržní Palace has nevertheless firmly established itself among Europe’s cultural institutions.
History of the Palace
- 1928 – ceremonial opening; first major exhibition of Alfons Mucha’s Slav Epic.
- 1939–1945 – headquarters of Reich authorities; Prague’s Jews were registered and deported from the adjacent Radio Market.
- 1948–1970s – used for socialist exhibitions, later for the administration of foreign trade enterprises.
- 1974 – a devastating fire left the building in ruins.
- 1980s – reconstruction for the needs of the National Gallery was prepared thanks to architects from the Liberec-based SIAL studio and the support of Jiří Kotalík.
- 1995 – after nearly a decade of restoration, the palace reopened to the public as a gallery of modern art.
