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The National Gallery’s impressive collection of French art was begun in 1923, when Czech president Tomáš Masaryk helped found a small collection. This bright landscape by Paul Cézanne was one of those original 25 pieces.

Paul Gaugín’s simple, flat self-portrait was originally painted as a decoration for the lower panel of a dining-room door for a house in Brittany. The much-admired 19th-century French artist made this enlarged copy in 1889.

Delacroix often visited zoos to study predatory animals whose movement inspired him. This small canvas from 1853 is a fine example of such research, and is striking for its interaction of colour and motion.

Van Gogh’s encounter with Impressionism was a decisive moment. Charmed by the countryside of southern France, he began to create bright canvases such as this landscape.

Auguste Rodin’s 1878 sculpture is a study of spiral motion, from the tension of the firmly anchored feet, to the rotating trunk, to the head turned away from the dominant gesture of the right hand.

Created in 1926, Henri Laurens’ sculpture is a synthesis of Cubism and the Classical ideal of form and beauty. The National Gallery added Laurens’ bronze to its collection in 1935.

Toulouse-Lautrec thrived on depictions of Paris nightlife such as this oil tempura on cardboard. One of the dancing women is his muse, Jane Avril. Oscar Wilde is one of the figures in the background.

With elements of modern civilization in the background Henri Rousseau’s self portrait depicts the artist as a self-assured personality.

One of 14 Picassos donated by former National Museum director Vincenc Kramář in 1960, the almond-shaped eyes and triangular nose testify to the influence of Iberian art and sculpture.

Otto Gutfreund paved the way for modern Czech sculpture. This bronze captures the apprehension of man in the early 20th century.