Eduard Kasparides: Orfeus & Eurydic. 1896.
Oil, canvas, 185 x 150 cm
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 Jaszusch. 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.
curators: PhDr. Želmíra Grajciarová, Mgr. Zsófia Kiss - Szemán
