Lovelies from the Files. Sudek and Slovakia
29 October 2021 – 9 January 2022
Bratislava City Gallery, Mirbach Palace
Františkánske Square 11, Bratislava, Slovakia
"Lovelies from the Files. Sudek and Slovakia" follows the exhibition which introduced the topic thoroughly for the first time and took place at the Prague City Gallery in 2020. Anna Fárová already wrote that sculptures were not only a subject of commissioned work for Sudek, but also a loved theme. That is also why Sudek affectionately called them "lovelies", especially Gothic ones.
Invitation jpg
Texts flyer pdf
Flyer pdf
Poster pdf
In 1937, the art association Umělecká beseda commissioned him to take photographs of exhibits from the Prague exhibition “Old Art in Slovakia”. The exhibition aimed at increasing the awareness of Slovak culture beyond the “mere enthusiasm for folk character” and showing “the whole of old Slovak culture” through fine arts.
During the preparation and duration of the exhibition, Sudek took almost five hundred photographs of individual exhibits. With a few exceptions, these pictures are rather unknown and show mainly sculptures, liturgical objects and textiles. They are a unique record of the then view of Slovak art and handicraft. The blow-ups of details look surprisingly modern and update the old art for current viewers. We also present photographs made by the Prague based agency Press Photo Service led by Alexander Paul and František Illek, which was also entrusted with the documentation of Slovak art by Umělecká beseda.
Newly acquired photographs served mainly as reproductions in publications relating to the exhibition. However, the exhibition also includes unused images. Pointing out the original purpose and the process of creating individual pictures, we reveal, among other things, the nature of the then photographic practice.
Authors: Josef Sudek, Alexandr Paul, František Illek
Curators: Hana Buddeus, Katarína Mašterová
New Prints: Vlado Bohdan
Architect: Zbyněk Baladrán
Graphic design: Martin Groch
Production: Anna Sopková, Tereza Koucká
Adjustments: Tereza Cíglerov, Kateřina Doležalová, Barbara Líznerová
Installation: Josef Chovančák, Jaroslav Beníček, Róbert Klváček
Publicity: Anna Jabłonowska-Holy, Barbara Líznerová
Photo from the exhibition: Barbora Girmanová, GMB
Acknowledgements: Atelier Paul Archive, Prokop Paul, Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague (Jitka Štětková, Jan Mlčoch), Jakub Wagner, Masaryk Institute of the CAS, Bratislava City Museum (Zuzana Francová), Central Slovakian Museum, Banská Bystrica (Juraj Žembera), East Slovakian Museum, Košice (Dušan Béreš), Imrich Winter Balneological Museum, Piešťany (Vladimír Krupa), Košická arcidiecéza (Peter Zubko), Slovak Mining Museum, Banská Štiavnica (Daniel Harvan), Slovak National Museum, Bratislava (Magdaléna Mrázová), Slovak National Museum, Martin (Radovan Sýkora, Daša Ferklová, Barbora Wágnerová, Branislav Murček), Slovak National Museum – Spišské múzeum v Levoči (Mária Novotná), Šariš Museum, Bardejov (František Gutek).
The exhibition is organised by the Bratislava City Gallery in cooperation with the Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
Guided tours with curators (in Czech/Slovak):
17 November 2021 at 5 pm with Katarína Mašterová
9 January 2022 at 5 pm with Hana Buddeus