National Gallery Prague
CZEN
Exhibitions and events
Exhibitions
Permanent exhibitions
Guided tours
Lectures and discussions
For families and children
Member's Events
Special Events
Visitors with specific needs
Public programmes
Adults
Families and children
School groups
Teachers
About us
Buildings and opening hours
Admission and booking
News
Our collections
10 Reasons to Visit
Support us
Open Culture
Professional activities
Venues for hire
History
People
Job offers
Information and documents
Press
Contacts
Club of Friends NGPShop
FacebookInstagramYouTube
Skip to main content
HomeClub of Friends NGPShopCZ
Exhibitions and events
Exhibitions
Permanent exhibitions
Guided tours
Lectures and discussions
For families and children
Member's Events
Special Events
Visitors with specific needs
Public programmes
Adults
Families and children
School groups
Teachers
About us
Buildings and opening hours
Admission and booking
News
Our collections
10 Reasons to Visit
Support us
Open Culture
Professional activities
Venues for hire
History
People
Job offers
Information and documents
Press
Contacts
logo
NGP
Exhibitions and events
Detail
FRANTAFRANTA

FRANTA

13/2–15/6 2025
Another place

Vstupenky v prodeji od 1.8.2022 12:00h

 Open daily 10 AM–6 PM                                   Venue: Prague Castle Riding School

Franta (b. 1930 as František Mertl) is an outstanding representative of figurative painting. A native of Třebíč and a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, he has lived in the south of France since 1958, when he adopted his artistic name Franta. He re-established his severed ties with Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when, after his breakthrough in Paris, the National Gallery in Prague purchased one of his paintings. However, despite his many exhibitions, Franta’s art – centred around the human figure and the relationship between man and the world – remains little known to a wider Czech audience.
Thirty years after his first retrospective at Karolinum in Prague, organized by the then Czech Museum of Fine Arts in Prague in 1995, the present exhibition at the Prague Castle Riding School features seven decades of the artist’s work, including large-format India ink drawings and bronze sculptures. This exhibition is held to mark the state award conferred on the artist by the President of the Czech Republic in 2023. The works showcased were lent by the artist as well as Czech and French art museums and private collections, including the National Gallery in Prague, the Moravian Gallery in Brno, the City of Paris Museum of Modern Art, and the National Centre for Visual Arts in Paris, among others.
The exhibition is presented chronologically, and the artist’s work is organized into chapters dedicated to each decade, with the exception of the heart of the exhibition, which is focused on the condemnation of violence and war. The relevance of Franta’s work revolves around his perceptiveness of beauty and the horrors of human existence which is often under the political, technological, or consumerist pressures of modern society. His canvases are not only testimonies of cruel injustice but also an appeal for solidarity with people in danger.

The exhibition is organized by the Prague Castle Administration.
Partner of the exhibition is the National Gallery Prague.
 FRANTA - Culture at the Castle

Due to the fact, that NGP is not the organizer of the exhibition, free entry to the exhibition does not apply to members of the NGP Club of Friends.
  • Franta, Jacqueline, 1965, courtesy of the artist
  • Franta, Protected Crossing, 1967, courtesy of the artist
  • Franta, Traverse, 1985, courtesy of the artist
  • Franta, Ferocity (Dogs), 1990, private collection
  • Franta, Between the Worlds, 2022, courtesy of the artist
  • Franta, The Eight Day, 1993, private collection
  • Franta, Appeal, 2014, Oil, canvas, UNESCO / Works of Art Collection, Paris, France

1—1 / 7

1 / 0

Facebook Národní galerie Praha

Related events

1939–2021: The End of the Black-and-White Era
1939–2021: The End of the Black-and-White Era
  • Trade Fair Palace

People

Mgr. Radoslav Ištok
Mgr. Radoslav Ištok
Curator of the Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art

Event partners

Správa Pražského hradu
Club of Friends NGP Card
Join the NGP Club of Friends and support us.
Learn more
FacebookInstagramYouTube
Sign up to our newsletter
Buildings and opening hours
Vacancies
Admission and event booking
Contact
Support us


Thank you to all our partners

View our partners
NGP
  • Accessibility statement
  • GDPR
  • Imprint