Visitors are presented with collection objects – paintings, drawings and prints – from the 17th to the 20th century, some of which are being exhibited for the first time after a demanding and complex restoration intervention.
On display are portraits of aristocrats, including the owners of the Krumlov dominion (the Schwarzenbergs), high officials, church dignitaries, ladies-in-waiting and men in military uniforms.
One of the focal points of the exhibition is bourgeois portraiture, whose "golden age" in Český Krumlov was the 19th century. A particularly important artistic personality who worked in Schwarzenberg´s service with the title of "court painter" was Charles Louis Philippot, in whose studio many a prominent citizen had the honour of having his own portrait painted. Recently, the Regional Museum succeeded in acquiring two paintings by Philippot depicting the local industrial magnate Franz Wozelka and his wife, which will be presented to the public for the first time at the exhibition. Similar to the portraits of seven mayors of Český Krumlov who led the town between 1850 and 1919 (created by the renowned painter Friedrich Wutschl).
You can also see portraits by the famous painter Ludvík Kuba, who created not only a number of paintings with the motif of the town during his short-term stays in Český Krumlov at the beginning of the 20th century, but also several portraits of his hosts – Josef and Karel Šmirous. Wilhelm Fischer is considered to be the leading representative of the Krumlov art scene of the interwar period, whose portraiture also focused on figures with elements of traditional costume from the rural and mountainous surroundings of the Šumava.