Exhibition until 04.01.2026: Vltava; Famed and Flowing

You may read the article about the exhibition in our Newsletter here.

Recommendation From Antony Gordon, Reading
"I just wanted to thank you for the article about the exhibition 'Vltava; Famed and Flowing' currently showing in Prague (Newsletter Issue 33). On the strength of the piece, my wife and I booked a three-night stay at the Charles Bridge Palace Hotel with a visit to the exhibition the main focus of our trip.

Below: the catalogue of the exhibition

It was a good decision! This is one of the best exhibitions I have seen anywhere: so carefully curated with much of interest to anyone with an interest in art, history, industrial heritage, and music. The thread of Smetana's Má Vlast weaved it's way through the exhibition and it was abundantly clear why both the music and the river mean so much to the Czech people.
There are so many superb paintings on show by artists I know already such as Schikaneder, SlavÍček and Chittussi, but also many with whom I was not familiar including Mrkvička and Croll. And so many artefacts from music scores to models of dams, glassware to trade banners.
The panels were so informative and well written (my only gripe is that there wasn't an English edition of the catalogue).

I don't know how many visitors would go upstairs in the Riding School but we were very pleased we did. The display or artwork relating to the Vltava theme by young people was outstanding - clearly there are numerous talented youngsters with bright futures. Also upstairs is a fascinating film which blends various performances of Má Vlast by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra under various conductors over the past 60 odd years. I hope other Friends will manage to get to see the exhibition before 4 January 2026. It is an enriching experience."

From Sir John Tusa, London
"As we are on Castle Hill, it is easy to take in the new “Vltava Exhibition” in the grand Riding School space at the entrance to the Castle. Everyone “knows” the Vltava - of course. Smetana’s music gives it recognition and an incredible musical identity. Both music and river flow irresistibly. When Annie and I drove from near its source in the south of Bohemia from the monastery of Vyšší Brod in 1991, we agreed that the river gleamed, glinted and danced in the sun . It was joyous. The exhibition strikes a more complex note . It is as if it needs a case making for it, rehabilitation almost. Much talk of the Vltava’s “flow”, its purpose, its value, its importance. But it is a smallish river, often shallow, frequently obstructed by natural or man made weirs. The Communists in particular tried to “make it useful” by building a dam. What it will never be is a significant economic highway though it has many useful purposes. It is as if the organisers feel they can help the Vltava by making it important. But the exhibition demonstrates something more precious. The Vltava is beautiful, it is a symbol, it is a representation of national identity. And the art in the exhibition shows that. (It is also temperamental and when it floods, it does so at scale). Fine panoramas of course. But some very fine paintings qua paintings. Viz: the best is Václav Spala, with some dramatic purple and deep green landscapes, not cosy; others catch the river at work or bordered by factories. The exhibition shows that the Vltava cannot be put into a single box - national symbol, channel of commerce or communication, economic hub, playground. It is all of these at times - when it chooses and when it permits. To the north the Vltava runs into the Elbe. Noone never wrote a musical masterpiece about the Elbe."