The dry sounding Museum of Decorative Arts is not the most visited in Prague while the prominent Municipal House is seen by nearly everyone who comes to Prague. For the thankfully long period of November 2013 through December 2015 they have combined to create an outstanding exhibition.

Many of our favourite places in Prague are showcases for the Art Nouveau (Secese in Czech) style.  We love its flee flowing, nature inspired design.  Karin commented at the exhibition that it makes the Modernist art that replaced it in popularity look sterile and boring.  We have written several times about the Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha.

The thought that kept recurring in my mind as I walked around the exhibition was “That is truly a museum piece.”  In our wanderings around Prague and other European cities we see a lot of beautiful historical pieces in buildings and in antique shops.  We admire them appreciatively. Yet the items on display in this show are in a far superior category; they are awe-inspiring.  I highly recommend it to any lover of art.

First photo from Wikimedia Commons; others by Karin. Click on slide show for 80 more.

By the way, the Municipal House lobby has an elegant cafe’ and restaurant that we had avoided due to its high prices.  However, this time we so enjoyed the exhibition and the tickets included a discount so we went in for coffee.  It was a delightful experience and good value so we have added it to our recommended places.