The National Gallery announced a competition for the director of the Collection of Old Art

Prague – The National Gallery in Prague (NGP) has announced a selection procedure for the director of the Collection of Old Art. It is looking for a successor to the Swiss art historian Marius Winzeler, who led the collection until this March. It is currently temporarily led by Štěpánka Chlumská. Applications for the selection procedure can be submitted until October 15, the NGP press office informed ČTK today.

Winzeler left the gallery after Alicja Knastová took over as its head at the beginning of this year. Winzeler stated that he still considers the former director Jiří Fajt to be the head of NGP. Fajt appointed Winzeler to lead the Collection of Old Art in 2016.

In the spring of 2019, the then Minister of Culture Antonín Staněk (ČSSD) suddenly removed Fajt from the head of NGP, filed two criminal complaints against him, and raised several accusations. However, the police archived both complaints, and Fajt's successor Lubomír Zaorálek (ČSSD) apologized to the former director. Zaorálek announced a new selection procedure for the director position, in which the former director of the Silesian Museum in Katowice, Alicja Knastová, emerged victorious. According to some representatives of the Czech art scene, the minister should have reinstated Fajt in the position.

According to a similar group of artists, Knastová is failing to realize the potential that, in their opinion, NGP has. Approximately twenty artists protested in June in one of the NGP's buildings, the Trade Fair Palace, for this reason. During the event, which was aimed at drawing attention to the emptied halls in a form of "positive resistance" led by Jiří David, the artists brought their works into the Small Hall, some of which they left there. According to a statement from NGP, the leadership is not indifferent to the remarks and opinions, but they likely stem from a lack of relevant information. NGP is open to discussion and dialogue with artists and the general public, the leadership stated at that time.

Today, NGP stated regarding the competition that the basic qualification prerequisites for candidates are scientific and curatorial work in the field, appropriate higher education, and professional knowledge with an emphasis on old art, including scientific publication and curatorial activities with an international reach in the field of art history or material culture.

The Collection of Old Art consists of more than 7,000 artistic objects. It includes a collection of works of Czech and Central European provenance primarily from the 14th to the 16th century. It includes a corpus of early German and Dutch panel paintings as well as a collection of Italian primitives predominantly from the collection of Archduke Franz Ferdinand d'Este.