Czech Museum of Cubism

An absolutely amazing place, though not really popular among majority of tourists! The House of the Black Madonna is a true architectural masterpiece and one of the most important Cubist buildings in the world. It was designed by Josef Gočár and built in 1912 as a modern department store, boldly breaking with traditional architecture of the time. The house got its name from the historic Baroque statue of the Black Madonna that once stood on the corner of the building. Inside, there is a Czech Museum of Cubism - very small but worth visiting especially if you're a cubism lover. A real highlight is the historic Grand Café Orient, where you truly feel transported back to the early 20th century.

As someone who is a fan of cubism architecture and interior I found this museum to be very interesting and worthwhile! The pieces on display are beautiful and very well preserved! The people working here are quite friendly too and you get a 10% discount at the grand orient cafe upstairs if you purchase a museum ticket.

The museum itself was amazing! It is small and text-dense, but the curation of works and explanatory text did a phenomenal job of locating Czech Cubism within the greater art, architectural, and social Zeitgeist. Very recommended for those interested in art history, Czech culture, or both. I will say, however, that the first floor café felt over-rated and -priced.

As a museum it was kind of alright but very small and mainly had the same furniture in repetition. It was very cheap so it’s ok but at the same time when I can go for free in the V&A in London and then I have to pay 5 pounds to see 10 chairs it stills feels odd. However my two main complaints are: there were no interactions or explanations whatsoever it is clear that they put 0 effort to organise the museum and they didn’t really care about explaining the concept of cubism. It feels like a tourist trap to get money as mainly the impressive thing is the building so it is easy to want to get in. The main problem is the extremely rude staff. I was spoken very rudely because I delayed for 10 seconds to pay the entry fee as I wanted to see other items in the gift shop. She started yelling at me that the cards are cash only and we tried to explain that we can include the price in the total bill as we would still pay for tickets. She didn’t even listen just started mumbling in Czech. It is strange to have this attitude towards people that are your source of income especially when what you present is 0. Finally, the cafe did not accept card payment as there was “something wrong with the machine”. When a cafe charges you 9 pounds for a coffee the least they can do is accept card payment. Fortunately we only spent 30 mins in there and got to see the building which itself is majestic indeed architecturally. Then we left and got to explore Prague which is an amazing city 😊

I did not enter: just went to see the stairs Even if you don’t enter, if you’re passing it then it’s worth popping in just for the stairs. Walk to top floor and then look down….