Gerard Rancinan, ‘Wonderful World – The Banquet of Idols’, photoprint on plexiglass (Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum)
The capital of Slovakia is a great destination for art-lovers.
Straddling the Danube about 75 kilometres along that mighty river from Vienna, Bratislava has a compact Old Town packed with historical buildings, pretty squares, cobbled streets and plenty attractions to make it an ideal city break destination.
The locals compare Bratislava Castle to an upturned table.
These include: the white-walled, red-roofed Bratislava Castle (likened by locals to an upturned table); the New Bridge (officially, the Bridge of the Slovak National Uprising), topped by its flying saucer-shaped observation deck and therefore nicknamed the UFO Bridge; Michael’s Gate, the only surviving entrance from the medieval fortifications; St Martin’s Cathedral, where numerous kings and queens of Hungary were crowned in the city’s years as part of that country’s empire; and the 14th century Town Hall, with panoramic views of the Old Town from its tower.
Viktor Hulík’s ‘Čumil’ (‘Rubberneck’, 1997) is one of several statues dotted around the Old Town. He has survived two accidents and an attempted theft. Passersby touch his helmet for good luck.
Art-lovers will also enjoy a fine selection of Slovakian artworks in palaces and historical buildings, a secret ‘must see’ sculpture garden and one of Europe’s most remarkable modern art collections in an equally remarkable location less than hour outside town.
With 35,000 items tracing the development of fine arts in Slovakia from the Gothic period to the present day, the Bratislava City Gallery is housed in not one, but two Baroque-Rococo palaces. One of the city’s best preserved buildings of its kind, the Mirbach Palace has retained a number of its original decorative elements such as tiled stoves, wooden wall panelling, mirrors, brass fittings and stucco ceilings, evoking an authentic atmosphere reminiscent of how these spaces were used by the original residents.
Mirbach Palace
The collection of Central European Baroque paintings, sculptures and altarpieces includes many items made by often anonymous artists, who came to Bratislava to work for secular and church dignitaries who commissioned works to demonstrate their social status. Another feature of the collection are the Cabinets of Prints, with walls covered in almost 300 French, Dutch, German, Italian and English prints, engravings, etchings and mezzotints from the 17th and 18th centuries, which were secondarily coloured by unknown artists. They include pastoral, allegorical, historical, mythological and religious subjects. There are also many fine examples of ‘vedute’, or landscapes, of the surrounding region, as well as depictions of the city’s monuments and historic buildings by members of the Bratislava Art Society.
The Cabinets of Prints in the Mirbach Palace
The City Gallery’s other venue, the Palffy Palace, has a permanent exhibition of Gothic panel paintings and sculpture. Dating from the 13th to 16th centuries, they are the oldest artefacts in the collection. A more recent permanent display is devoted to Celtic minting. Don’t forget to visit Matej Kren’s sense-confusing Passage, an installation which achieves the illusion of infinite space with the use of mirrors and “endless walls” of books.
Matej Kren’s sense-confusing ‘Passage’ in the Palffy Palace
For a marvelous overview of Slovak modern art, head to the Nedbalka Gallery, an historic building with an award-winning modern interior with rotunda-shaped floors topped by a dome-like skylight, resembling the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Best to start at the top and follow the development of Slovak art down through the floors from the turn of the 20th century to more recent times. Bonus: admission includes a refreshment in the gallery cafe.
Nedbalka Gallery
Overlooking the Danube, the Slovak National Gallery houses over 60,000 works, from Slovak old masters to works by 20th and 21st century designers and artists. The collection of Gothic art, with its emphasis on statues of saints, Christ and the Madonna, is the finest of its kind in Slovakia. There is also a substantial section on 16th to 18th century European painting, including portraits, landscapes and still lifes by Italian, Netherlandish, Dutch and other masters.
Ladislav Guderna’s ‘Spectre’ (1957) depicts a surrealistic landscape rife with death, estrangement, anguish, disaster and anxiety of an atomic apocalypse. (Slovak National Gallery)
A section called The Modern shows how, in the first half of the 20th century, the country’s artists took one of two paths: a quest for national identity in a “Slovak” art form, often inspired by mythic ideas of the rural home, and a more open view of the world in response to western European avant-garde and modern art movements. After WWII, contemporary art was dictated by Soviet-led Socialist Realism until the 1989 Velvet Revolution meant that art in central and eastern Europe could finally evolve as part of the worldwide trend.
If you are looking to take home a high quality craft item, look no further than Gallery ÚĽUV, home of the Centre for Folk Art Production. Since 1959 the centre has awarded Master status to Slovakia’s most outstanding craftmakers – over 450 to date – an accolade which is included on Slovakia’s List of the Best Practices for the Protection of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
High quality craft items can be found at Gallery ÚĽUV.
The gallery is a veritable emporium of traditional crafts with a permanent selling exhibition of work by over 80 masters, ranging from woodwork, basketry and rugs to knitwear, leatherwork and hand-painted ceramics, of which Slovakia has a strong tradition. You may be lucky enough to catch a craft workshop in progress, while videos show expert craftmakers transforming raw materials into finished products.
Discreetly located up one of the oldest cobbled streets in the Old Town, the Central European House of Photography hosts temporary exhibitions by Slovakian and international artists. Every November it stages a Month of Photography. The cafe, with walls covered in photographs, is a popular hangout.
From an exhibition by the Czech photographer Jan Saudek at the Central European House of Photography
In the purpose-built House of Arts, the state-funded Kunsthalle Bratislava (‘Kunst’ is actually German for art) has no permanent collection, but stages a series of contemporary art shows in collaboration with other institutions. From the outside, the most striking architectural feature of the 1958 building are wrap-around side slats, while inside, natural light floods the big central hall, which can present large format works.
Kunsthalle Bratislava
Hidden treasure
Do take time to visit Rudavsky’s Magic Garden. Bus number 72 from Nivy shopping mall to the Hronska stop followed by a 10-minute walk will get you there. Please note: Only open by appointment on Sundays between 1pm and 5pm.
The sculptor Andrej Rudavsky (1933-2016) was part of the legendary Galanda artist group, which rebelled against the dogma of Socialist Realism. Routinely phone-tapped and followed by security personnel, he was expelled from the Association of Slovak Fine Artists, which effectively banned the exhibition of his work and its acquisition by galleries and museums. Several of his pieces were also destroyed. Today he is recognised as one of the most important Slovak sculptors of his generation. His sculpture Missionaries stands in front of the United Nations building in New York (there is a maquette on display in the garden) and one of his pieces is in the sculpture garden at Danubiana. (See Get out of town!, below.)
Rudavsky’s Magic Garden
In the 1960s, Rudavsky bought a corn field on the outskirts of Bratislava, and over the years he populated his garden with over 300 works in metal, stone and wood, often depicting themes of chapels, shepherds, pilgrims and warriors. Today, the garden is an art oasis surrounded by housing.
One area is enclosed by low walls made up of fragments from Bratislava Castle from the days when Rudavsky would intercept workmen on their way to the dump with various materials and redirect them to the garden, where they would be recycled into artworks. Somewhere there is also the plinth from a statue of Stalin.
The collection also includes remarkable clay and bronze sculptures by Andrej’s wife Maria Rudavska (1941-2019), a prominent figure in the visual arts of her generation, whose folk art-inspired figures are rooted in the archetype of the guardian angel.
Folk art-inspired bronze figures by Maria Rudavska (1941-2019)
Today, the garden is run by Rudavsky’s son Ondrej, who creates superbly animated digital works and videos which have earned numerous accolades, including an MTV Award and Grammy nominations for music videos for Moby, Los Lobos and Dead Can Dance. He is helped by his sculptor and jeweller wife Jacqueline, who specialises in large, bold pieces.
Animated digital works by Ondrej Rudavsky
Get out of town!
To view one of Europe’s most remarkable private collections in an equally remarkable location, hop on the number 90 bus from the New Slovak National Theatre for the 40-minute ride to the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum.
Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum
Founded in 2000 by the Dutch electronics entrepreneur and art collector Gerard Meulensteen, Danubiana sits on a promontory jutting out into a fat stretch of the Danube. On a clear day you can see Bratislava Castle some 20 kilometres to the north.
Spread throughout a series of light-flooded galleries, works in the museum’s own collection of paintings and photography are rotated regularly, accompanied by changing exhibitions by international artists. The long, white building (shaped like a Roman galley) and elliptical extension are surrounded by an 8,000 square metre sculpture park, which continues onto the roof. Bonus: sweeping views across the Danube from the glass-fronted cafe and riverside benches.
Where to stay
Overlooking the Danube and minutes from the Old Town, the four-star Hotel Devin first opened its doors in 1954 and today is a protected landmark. There are artworks throughout the public spaces. They include: The early bird gets the worm (1954) by husband and wife artists Janko Alexy and Šarlota Alexjová, who used colours typical of Slovak folklore themes to depict the changing seasons; Mária Medvecká’s In Orava region, which depicts the difficult life of her native Orava people; etched windows by Ctibor Belan (Mária Medvecká’s husband), an original feature of the hotel depicting harvest; and a set of five wood and metal sculptures by Ján Ťapák. Bonus: se of the spa is included in the room rate.
Mária Medvecká (1914-1987), ‘In Orava region’, 1956 (Hotel Devin)
FURTHER INFO visitbratislava.com