The permanent exhibition outlines the development of art production in the region of Central Europe from the early 19th century to 1918, with emphasis on the area of Bratislava, as it has been preserved in the collections of the City Gallery of Bratislava. The quality is being guaranteed by names like Gottlieb Rähmel, Friedrich J. Lieder, Ferdinand von Lütgendorff, Friedrich Amerling, Carl Marko, Giacomo Marastoni, Kornel Spányik, Viktor Tilgner, Ján Fadrusz, Alojz Rigele, Robert Kühmayer and Jozef Murmann. The permanent exhibition also presents 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. Since Bratislava lacked art patrons, galleries and in particular art academy, except for a short period of existence of private art schools led by G. Marastoni and F. von Lütgendorff, 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 contributed to the flowering of art activities in Bratislava, was established only in 1885. In terms of individual styles, one can notice the shift from Classicism, through Biedermeier and Romanticism, to the tendencies of Realism, Luminism, and Classical Modernism at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. In terms of subjects, the interest in sacral subjects, typical of the previous century, was replaced with increased interest in portrait, landscape, still life and genre painting. This was conditioned also by the fact that the church and the aristocracy were replaced as clients with a new class – burgers.

PhDr. Želmíra Grajciarová, Mgr. Zsófia Kiss-Szemán