Invitation to New Permanent Exhibitions in the City Gallery of Bratislava

Two new permanent exhibitions enriched The City Gallery of Bratislava in March 2008.

Exhibitions named Central European Painting and Sculpture 1800-1918 and Stories and Phenomena - Slovak Fine Art of the 20th Century - present general view of fine art from 19th till 20th century in our region, especially in Bratislava. Following text is a speech of currators, Mrs. Zelmira Grajciarova and Mrs. Zsofia Kiss-Szeman.

Central European Painting and Sculpture 1800-1918

This permanent exhibition shows the development of art production in the region of Central Europe, with the emphasis put on the area of Bratislava, from the early 1800s to 1918, as it has been preserved in GMB collections. The exhibition is based on the works of significant artists of that period. The quality is being guaranteed by the names of artists working in Bratislava, such as Gottlieb Rähmel, Friedrich J. Lieder, Ferdinand von Lütgendorff, Friedrich Amerling, Carl Marko, Giacomo Marastoni, Kornel Spányik, or sculptors Viktor Tilgner, Ján Fadrusz, Alojz Rigele, Robert Kühmayer and Jozef Murmann.

Permanent exhibition also includes works by Ladislav Mednyánszky, Ferdinand Katona, Dominik Skutecký and Anton Jasusch.

Art life in Bratislava was characterised by the interconnection with the art of near Vienna. Bratislava wanted for art patrons, galleries and in particular art academy, except for a short period of the existence of private art schools of G. Marastoni and F. von Lütgendorff. Therefore the Slovak artists had to study art abroad. Though the first museum in Bratislava was established in 1868, the first art society, namely Bratislava Art Society (Pressburger Kunstverein, Pozsonyi Képzőművészeti Egyesület), which significantly influenced the flowering of art activities in Bratislava, was created not until 1885.

In terms of individual styles one can notice the shift from Classicism through Biedermeier and Romanticism to the tendencies of Realism, Luminism (at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries) and classical modernism. In terms of subjects, the interest moved from sacral subjects, typical of the previous century, to a portrait, landscape painting, still life and genre. This situation was also conditioned by the change of persons making the orders for the aristocracy and the church have been replaced with a new class – burghers.

Stories and Phenomena. Slovak Fine Art of the 20th Century.

I. Stories of Slovak Modernism. Slovak fine art 1918-1948

The exhibition provides a comprehensive picture of Slovak contemporary art in inter-war period from GMB collections. The selection of main works from the history of Slovak art presents an excellent collection of painting and sculpture of the period 1918–1948. The concept makes possible to capture parallel, though independent, richly diversified art events in Slovakia. The collection is arranged into groups in terms of chronology and style which points out the continuity in the development of fine art. The exhibition enables the visitors to create an idea of the development of art of that period based on work of both the most famous representatives of painting, such as M. Benka, J. Alexy, M. A. Bazovský, Ľ. Fulla, M. Galanda, E. Šimerová, K. Sokol, C. Majerník, J. Mudroch, J. Želibský, V. Hložník, and the less famous, but equally good and interesting artists, such as F. Reichentál, J. Flaché, J. Jakoby, E. Nemes, J. Bauernfreund, E. Nevan, L. Guderna, V. Chmel, etc.

The exhibition reflects crucial artistic problems of that time, such as the issue of the traditional and the modern, the national and the international, the transformation of folklore, or de-folklorisation of art, the phenomenon of town and related loneliness of man, the conflict between the reality of war and helplessness of man in "stigmatised era" (Š. Žáry, 1944), the issue of fundamental human values, etc.

II. Phenomena in Slovak fine art of the latter half of the 20th century

The exhibition presents the most significant art phenomena of the latter half of the 20th century that critically determined the nature of art events in Slovakia. The aim of the exhibition is to identify individual phenomena and show the works of artists of many generations, typical of Slovak art of that period. In accordance with the phenomena of fine art, the exhibition gives a picture of the formation of art and art thinking in Slovakia, while it makes possible to study art events in all their bearings. Thanks to putting the works of art into the respective contexts in the development of art, the exhibition presents mutual connections and links between specific artworks, while they still preserve their own qualities and can be perceived as unique artefacts.

The permanent exhibition also includes two installations of extraordinary importance, created, or restored, for the given space in situ. The installation of Alex Mlynarcik entitled Villa dei Mysteri, originally created for the exhibition in Lund (Sweden) in 1966-1967, presents significant part of our fine art and an authentic evidence of the period. The installation of Matej Kren entitled Passage consists of nearly 15,000 books, which, together with mirrors, create an illusion of endless space and infinity of human knowledge. The artist donated the installation to GMB in 2004.

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The permanent exhibitions Central European Painting and Sculpture 1800-1918 and Stories and Phenomena and Slovak Fine Art of the 20th Century take place in the City gallery of Bratislava, in the Palffy Palace at the Panska Street 19.

Opening hours: Tu-Su 11:00 - 18:00