This week, I took a short trip from Budapest to Bratislava, Slovakia’s Capital. It was three hour trip by train. Along the way, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers.
Slovakia is a rich culture country with folk architecture and traditions, located in Central Europe. Formerly, Slovakia is a part of Czechoslovakia, before divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia in 1993.
Like its cultural history, Slovakia also has a diverse natural landscape. From the high Carpathian Mountains (The Tatras) that covered with forest in the north, the foothills in the west, to the Danube River Basin in the south. Slovakia also consists of wide valleys created by the Váh, Nitra, and Hron Rivers.
This article explores Slovakia through its paintings that depict Slovak landscape, folklore, and architecture.
1. Embankment under the Castle (1946/1947) by Štefan Bednár
Welcome to Bratislava! We are in the 1940s when tram and tram lines were introduced as new technologies to society. Štefan Bednár created a colorful painting of a neighborhood on the banks of the Danube river. This painting combines the beauty of natural scenery and modern city, represented by its architecture, transportation, and residents’ outfits.
2. Springtime in Bratislava (1932/1932) by Maximilián Schurmann
Bratislava is not only famous for its architecture of the old town but also its lovely landscape. Maximilian Schurmann’s painting depicts a scenery of a Castle that sits in the top of city center, viewed from other hills. Blossoming flowers from a tree marks the spring season. Green leaves appear from a distance and a shade of blue in the sky.
3. Isle of Cormorants (1930/1935) by Štefan Prohászka-Tallós
From Bratislava, we moved to a nature reserve on the Danube called Ostrov kormoránov. This realistic painting portrays a river banks ecosystem with flocks of birds. The nature reserve was “named after its unique bird habitat, which was flooded during the construction of Gabčíkovo dam and reservoir.”
4. Sunset in Pezinok (1895/1915) by Gustáv Mallý
In the southwest area of Slovakia, we enjoyed a sunset in Pezinok. Gustáv Mallý was one of the founders of Slovak modern painting. His painting of Pezinok in the winter season is so soothing. The street and roof were covered by snow. It is a nostalgic portrait of a sunset in a village.
5. Landscape with a River (1948/1948) by Ladislav Guderna
Ladislav Guderna’s painting portrays a peaceful scenery of mountains and riverside. The artist created the landscape with strong colors and bold brushstrokes. Guderna was inspired by Surrealism, Cubism and Fauvism. The river is probably the Váh River.
6. Trenčín (1961/1962) by Imro Weiner-Král̕
We moved to western Slovakia, in the town of Trenčín. This painting depicts Trenčín castle with a roller coaster-like bridge. Imro Weiner-Král̕ was famous for his surreal, dreamlike, and metaphorical paintings. He is also a prominent figure of Slovak Surrealism. The painting is contrasting the old architecture of the castle and modern technology represented by the steel bridge.
7. Winter in the old Žilina (1965/1965) by Ľudovít Fulla
Žilina is a city in north-western Slovakia. The artist painted a colorful painting of cultural and industrial atmospheres in a communal life during the winter season. Fulla simultaneously combines “children’s art, medieval iconographic, European avant-garde painting and folk art.”
The digital exhibition of Slovak Sceneries can be accessed at https://artsandculture.google.com/story/slovak-sceneries-slovak-national-gallery/awXhXbsQ8F0TLQ?hl=en