Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague

Name

Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague

Legal name

Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze

Website

https://upm.cz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1885

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

NAICS

Museums (71211), Museums, Historical Sites, and Similar Institutions (7121)

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945), Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Art Museums (THAJADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Art Galleries & Exhibition Spaces (Commercial & Nonprofit) (THAJADAH), Museum, Zoo & Attraction Gift Shops (CRALAJAG), Industrial/Product & Furniture Design (BPAHAKAM)

Keywords

• Decorative arts museum
• Applied arts exhibitions
• Cultural heritage preservation
• Museum education programs
• Art publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Prague

HQ country

Czechia

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Admission fees for exhibitions and the main building, with free entry on certain third Sundays of each month and free admission to branches with main building ticket.
2. E-commerce / Museum Shop: Sale of books, design objects, and merchandise through the Modernista museum shop at the main building and at House U Černé Matky Boží, as well as online e-shop.
3. Publishing: Publication and sale of books, catalogs, and academic journals including Artlife periodical published twice yearly.
4. Book Distribution: Distribution of published books through distribution agreements managed by Ing. Dušan Seidl.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze (Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague / UPM) is a state-owned applied arts and design museum that preserves, studies, and publicly presents collections of glass, ceramics, porcelain, furniture, textiles, fashion, photography, metalwork, and architecture. It operates permanent and rotating exhibitions across multiple Prague-area branches, runs educational programs for schools and children, publishes the Art Life academic journal and books, and operates the Modernista museum shop and e-commerce platform.

Product overview

Uměleckoprůmyslové museum v Praze (Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague) operates as a comprehensive cultural institution with multiple physical locations and digital offerings. The core portfolio includes: (1) the main historic museum building housing the permanent exhibition ART, LIFE and rotating temporary exhibitions; (2) the Czech Cubism permanent exhibition at Dům U Černé Matky Boží designed by Josef Gočár; (3) Galerie Josefa Sudka dedicated to photographer Josef Sudek; (4) the seasonal Bauerova vila in Libodřice designed by Josef Gočár. The museum publishes the biannual Art Life academic journal and operates the Modernista museum shop and e-commerce platform for tickets, publications, and merchandise. Educational initiatives include programs for schools and children, with a loyalty program (Moje Museu(p)m) for members. In January 2025, the museum launched an online collection catalog making over 7,000 items accessible digitally. The institution celebrates its 140th anniversary in 2025, having been founded in 1885.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Artlife: Biannual journal published by UPM for interpretation and reflection of applied art and design in broader cultural contexts, focused on basic and applied research in Czech and foreign applied art, design, book culture, photography, architecture, and clothing creation
• Moje museum(p)m
• Modernista

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 30,000 visitors in first year of permanent exhibition ART, LIFE
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Museum of Applied Arts BudapestcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Lead partner in the CultHeRit project (Identifying Solutions for Labour Market Disparities in the Cultural Heritage Sector), which runs from January 2024 for 2.5 years. UPM is one of 13 partners working to improve employment conditions for young professionals in the cultural heritage sector across the Danube region.
• Museum of Applied Arts ViennacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner institution in the CultHeRit EU project focusing on employment disparities in the cultural heritage sector across Central Europe.
• Museum of Arts and Crafts ZagrebcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partner institution in the CultHeRit EU project, collaborating with institutions from Hungary, Austria, Romania, Serbia, Czech Republic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia.
• Czech Centers (Česká centra)majorGTM or Marketing Partner · 30 March 2023Framework cooperation agreement signed March 30, 2023 between UPM director Helena Koenigsmarková and Czech Centers director Ondřej Černý for support of cultural projects internationally.
• Galerie KinskýminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organized exhibition with Galerie Kinský at Nový zámek Kostelec nad Orlicí for the double anniversary of photographer Josef Sudek.
• Cultural Mile Partners (6 Prague institutions)minorGTM or Marketing PartnerSince July 15, visitors can explore selected Prague galleries and museums at discounted prices through the Kulturní míle project involving 6 central Prague institutions.
• FABRIC Project PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational project partners focused on museum textile collections and accompanying programs using textiles as the primary medium. Prague meeting hosted at UPM.
• Porzellanikon SelbminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organized the largest exhibition of Czech porcelain in Germany in collaboration with Porzellanikon in Selb and the West Bohemian Gallery in Plzeň.
• West Bohemian Museum in PlzeňminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organized the largest exhibition of Czech porcelain in Germany and co-hosted the Czech Porcelain in Czech Collections conference.
• National Heritage InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-research partner in the project 'From Aristocratic Court to Theatre Stage - Historical Wardrobe in Czech Castle and Chateau Funds in European Context'.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris): Parisian decorative arts museum with globally significant collections in furniture, glass, textiles, fashion, and graphic arts — the international benchmark for institutions of UPM's type and a model for retail/publishing revenue streams alongside exhibitions.
• MAK – Museum of Applied Arts (Vienna): Viennese applied-arts museum with comparable holdings in furniture, glass, textiles, and contemporary design, and a similar Viennese Secession / Jugendstil strength. Co-partner in CultHeRit, making it the closest Central-European peer in collections and institutional structure.
• Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (New York): U.S. design and decorative arts museum with overlapping product, textile, and graphic-design collections and a similar blend of permanent collection, temporary exhibitions, and educational programming.
• Museum of Applied Arts (Budapest): Hungarian counterpart under the same CultHeRit partnership network and lead partner on the project. Operates a national applied/decorative arts museum with overlapping collections (Hungarian Secession, contemporary design) and similar mission, education, and publishing scope.
• Museum of Arts and Crafts (Zagreb): Croatian applied-arts museum that is also a CultHeRit partner, sharing UPM's regional Central-European scope, applied-arts focus, and similar scale and governance model.
• Kunstgewerbemuseum (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin): Berlin's decorative arts museum within the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, with comparable European applied-arts holdings (Renaissance to modern design) and similar national-museum positioning and curatorial depth.

Broad incumbents

• Design Museum (London): London design-focused museum with overlapping interest in product, furniture, and graphic design and contemporary craft; a broader incumbent reference for retail and exhibition monetization approaches UPM could emulate.
• Victoria and Albert Museum (London): The world's leading decorative arts and design museum, operating at much larger scale; comparable in mission (applied arts, design, fashion, photography) and a benchmark for international programming, publishing, and digital strategy relevant to UPM.

Regional players

• National Museum – Národní muzeum (Prague): Largest Czech museum with a broader cultural-history remit but overlapping visitor base in Prague; useful comparable for domestic funding dynamics, tourism capture, and pricing/free-admission policy interactions in the Czech market.
• Moravian Gallery in Brno (Moravská galerie): Czech Republic's second-largest art museum and a peer in applied arts and design within the same country, sharing UPM's national-museum context, Czech-language audience, and ministry-of-culture governance dynamics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCDyqLaZk5lYz7aJbqsax31Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/upmpraha
• Instagraminstagram.com/upm_prague
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/museum-of-decorative-arts-in-prague

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague