The Czech Museum of Fine Arts (originally the Mid-Bohemian Gallery) was founded in 1963 as a regional gallery.

It began its activities at Nelahozeves Castle near Prague,where in 1964 it opened a permanent exhibition of Czech modern art (which was discontinued in 1971). In 1971 three reconstructed historical houses in Husova St, in the Old Town district of Prague, were opened as the new home of the gallery. They remain the centre of the Czech Museum of Fine Arts, where it also stages temporary exhibitions of 20th-century and contemporary art. In 1994 the Czech Museum of Fine Arts opened the newly reconstructed House of the Black Madonna in Celetná St, Prague. This important monument of modern architecture, built in 1911-1912 by Josef Gočár, became the venue for a permanent exhibition of Czech Cubism (4th and 5th floors). The other three floors provided a venue for temporary exhibitions of Czech art and that of other countries, in particular art of the first half of the 20th century. The Czech Museum of Fine Arts finished its exhibition programme at the House of the Black Madonna on January 30th 2002. The museum is currently reconstructing the former Jesuit College and its grounds in the historical town of Kutná Hora, some 60 kilometres east of Prague, as a new centre for its activities. The Kutná Hora Arts Centre is due to open in 2005.