Gallery of fine arts in Cheb

Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb is an art gallery in Cheb in the Czech Republic. It is a subsidiary organization of the Karlovy Vary Region. It is located in the New Town Hall on the main town square in Cheb. Its permanent exhibition features a collection of Gothic art from the Cheb region and a collection of Czech modern art from the 19th to 21st centuries, which has been built up from the mid-1960s to the present. In 2016, it has also founded the Retromuseum, which focuses on post-war design and lifestyle and is located in the neighboring Schiller House. In the past, the gallery also used exhibition spaces. History The State Gallery of Fine Arts in Cheb was founded in 1962 as part of a network of regional galleries under the administration of the Ministry of Education and Culture. The gallery was founded by art historian and conservator Mira Mladějovská, who was the head of the town archives and the Cheb Museum from 1946 to 1951. From 1950 to 1955, she was the director of the Cheb Town Picture Gallery, located in the town hall building. The State Gallery acquired its basic collection through transfers from the Cheb Museum. Main building The palace, built according to a design by Prague architect Antonín Haffenecker, is a Baroque architecture dating from 1723 to 1727. The town hall was originally designed as a monumental two-story building with a facade divided by a high order of pilasters, with a central section and two side wings with portals and towers. Due to a lack of funds, only the south wing with a courtyard section (1727) and later the clock tower (1849) were built. Inside the building, there is a central grand staircase leading to both floors.