GALLERY TOUR

Column Hall

Column Hall is assumed to be a former area of the sall

terrena, which served for pleasant refreshments in hot

summer days in the Baroque period. Count John Pálfi

had it rebuilt into a pillared hall at the turn of the 19th and 20th century. Two large statues

belong to the original layout - the king Saul (from 1882) and Sardanapal (from 1880),

sculptured in white carrera marble by English sculptor Waldo Thomas Story. The statues

remained in their original position despite being sold after the death of Count John Pálfi,

because the new owner could not carry them without damaging the wall with tracery windows

(Sardanapal is the Greek name of the last Assyrian king Asshurbanipal who ruled

approximately from 668 to 630 BC; Saul was Israel's first king around 1030-1010 BC.)

Four chest chairs made by Colli brothers for the Count at the end of the 19th century complete

the original design.

Castle glyptotheque

V umelecko- represents the most frequently

mentioned sculptor in the collections Jozef

Damko (1872-1955) from Nitrianske

Pravno. He is almost unknown in Slovakia, even though he was of European importance.

Even though he spent most of his life in Budapest, his work still showed connection with

Slovakia, his native region, his parents and friends. There are two basic counterparts - official

orders and creative, private and relaxed character which can be seen in realistic portraits and

genre sculpture. Work of other sculptors: Š. Šovánka, F. Klugh, Z. Štróbl, K.C. Zumbusch, V.

Badura.

Marble stairs

were originally part of the cannon bastion that was used to defend invaders from the elevated

hillside of the Little Magura. The picturesque tower with staircase was built by Count Paul

Pálfi during the Baroque reconstruction. The current appearance with a broken massive

marble staircase dates to the last neo-Gothic reconstruction which was realized by Count John

Pálfi. Four reliefs sculptured out of white carrera marble which are set in the walls belong to

the original property of the last count.

There are two reliefs (1883) with ancient motifs chariot races in the upper part made by

English sculptor Waldo Story. In the space under the staircase there are two other reliefs with

portraits of young women (1859) by Italian sculptor Giovanni Pandiani. Above one of them is

a text in the Milan dialect which reads: "The breeze - which laurels and golden hair - is so

compelling that it gathers in us a gust, and steals the souls of our bodies with the power of

beauty." The text is a snippet of Sonnet # 26, Canzoniere by Francesco Petrarca.

Hunyady hall

is the largest hall situated in the wing that was built by the Thurzo family at the turn of the

16th and 17th century. Count Paul Palfi used the renaissance foundation and rebuilt the hall

over two floors during the Baroque reconstruction of the castle. The hall has a unique ceiling

construction system consisting of a suspended wooden vault. The hall underwent a minor

reconstruction at the end of the 19th century. It is dominated by a unique Baroque chandelier

from the mid-18th century, coming from the manor house in Tovarníky. There are 2 layers,

each with ten arms and 110 lamps. There is a large original tapestry depicting a biblical theme

from the Old Testament (Joseph and his brothers). A large Baroque table dating to the 18th

century is the original property of the last owner. Other furniture dates to the second half of

the 19th century.

There are clocks, vases, candlesticks, bowls, plates, cups, teapots made out of porcelain,

faience, majolica, stoneware and glass dating to the 16th till 19th centuries. The table clock

was made in Prague around 1830.

The founders of Slovak Modernism from the collections of the Bojnice

The layout of art works in the Hunyady Hall is atypical, following new trends. It is not subject

to the traditional course of history depicting authors beginning from the oldest to the

youngest, but creates new contexts and unexpected connections between historical images and

Slovak modernism.

Maximilian Schurmann (1890-1960) adopted the impressionist principles in his painting

from Monet in Paris. He spent years in a monastery in the French town of Espalion near

Avignon, where he painted many of his works: A View of Espalion, 1915, oil, canvas. He

returned to Slovakia after the world but went back to Paris (1920-1925) where he created the

work of Luxembourg Garden, 1922, oil, canvas.

In the modern era, many artists travelled through Slovakia, seeking to capture a non-

industrialized landscape, its people and its mythos.

Martin Benka (1888-1971) deserves a place in the history because of impressive and

expressive power in his paintings. He arranged natural plans into several spatial layers in a

row. Since the 1930s, heroic figures have come to the forefront, similar to painting Near

Černová - Liptov, 1932, oil, cardboard.

Jaroslav Augusta (1878-1970) approached the theme of folklore in his own way. His

characters are not only a kind of singing folklore, but they capture the real, often not easy

existence of people in the Slovak countryside. He often used ethnographically true and correct

social realism in figural composition. Gypsy Madonna, 1910, oil, canvas.

Milos Alexander Bazovsky (1899-1968) was influenced by traveling through Slovakia

(Liptov, Orava, Detva, etc.), together with his companions - Zolo Palugyay and Janko Alexy.

Unlike Benka, they perceived the national myth not as a faithful reflection of the rural

landscape, but as a program abstract. Composed according to art, not literary rules. He uses

earthy colors, he focuses on landscape motifs. Párnica, 1954, oil, canvas, Shepherd 1955,

tempera, cardboard, Horse and Birds, 1947, oil, cardboard.

Ľudovít Fulla (1902-1980) was inspired by traditional folk colors, red, yellow and blue. He

found his inspiration in a simple rural life of the Slovak country. During his studies in Prague,

he met Mikuláš Galanda, who became his friend and co-worker. Together they defended

modern painting in Slovakia, issued a manifesto "Private Letters of Fulla and Galanda". Girl

from Sečovce, 1951, oil, canvas.

Imro Weiner-Kráľ (1901-1978) remains an exclusive surrealist solitaire without

contemporaries or followers. His interest was based on the iconographically clearly defined

Slovak folk genre. He emphasizes the classic lyric, characterized by skeptical irony. In his

works of civilian-sensual painting, surrealism and poetism we find strong social symbolism.

Young Mother, 1950-1963, oil, canvas.

Generation 1909 is known as the post-war art group that was linked by a common year of

birth, 1909. The artists were influenced by the Parisian avant-garde, either indirectly or

directly. They were also characterized by a high level of engagement. One of them was Julius

Nemčík (1909-1986), who was influenced by his colleague Cyprián Majerník and was

devoted to social, and war issues. Since the 1960s his work has been dominated by landscape

painting. Landscape, 1959, oil, canvas. Another representative was Ján Mudroch (1909-1968).

He was a teacher at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bratislava in 1938-1939. He taught

drawing and painting at the department of the Slovak Technical University in Bratislava from

1939 to 1941. After the foundation of the College of Fine Arts (1949) he became the first

rector, then head of the figural painting department. He focused mainly on portraiture, figural

painting and still life. Portrait of Wife, 1940-1950, oil, cardboard, Woman in Hat, 1940, oil,

canvas.

After 1950, Peter Matejka (1913-1972) was head the studio of monumental painting at the

Academy of Fine Arts and Design. Its creation is characterized by a reduction of shapes and

simplified compositions of elements with a concentration on the central theme. There is a

shift in his work towards poetization and imagination during his forties Bouquet, 1950-1956,

oil, cardboard. Later on, the art scene was taken by Mudroch's pupils. They no longer felt the

need to rely on the domestic tradition of national expression.

Ladislav Guderna (1921-1999) was a Mudroch`s pupil. He was at first influenced by

Picasso's late cubism and his conflict with the black contour. Guderna wanted to point out not

only the factual analysis of the optical properties of the object being shown, but also its

significance. The expressiveness is internal Still life with oranges, 1955, tempera, paper. After

1956 he returned to Surrealism, Girl with a Cube, 1956, oil, canvas. The horizontally

developed figural composition War, 1959, oil, paper, is composed of several, independent

motifs, full of unexpected encounters of meaning, parables and dreamy metaphors. Guderna

also contributed to the renewal of surreal tendencies in Slovak painting.

Ernest Špitz (1927-1960) also studied at the newly founded Mudroch College of Fine Arts.

In the early days of his work, he used the early works of P. Picasso and P. Cézanne as a

starting point, which can be recognized by rich color in expressive figural compositions. He

focused on circus motifs, acts, genre and figural motifs Dancer on the Rope, 1957, tempera,

paper, In the Dressing Room, 1956, tempera, paper.

Another of Mudroch's students was Rudolf Krivoš (1933-). Inspired by synthetic cubism, he

creates expressively deformed figures. The shapes that come to the core are precisely

arranged in a figural composition, distinguished by different structures. Monochrome earthy,

red as well as dark-red colors indicate closeness to nature. After 1962 Krivoš leaves a

constructively tuned shape and inclines to the intentions of civilism Breastfeeding Woman,

1961, oil canvas, Spartakiada, 1960, oil canvas.

The extensive painting and drawing by Milan Laluha (1930-2013) represents a natural link

to the theme of the Slovak village, which he enriched with a new meaning by his own poetics.

It captures a working person, but the painter's emphasis is placed on a line that is highlighted

Tree, 1960..1962, oil, canvas, Bags, 1959, oil, cardboard.

The clubrooms

The clubrooms were built during the construction of the Hunyady hall. They originally served

as guest rooms. Until recently, they were used for technical, social and commercial purposes.

(Works of artists were brought here because, for a short time, the castle was the seat of the

Regional Gallery of Nitra)

Art of Upper Nitra

First room

First room contains the works of art representing the

Slovak scene of the 20th century. The artists were

connected to this region in some way, for example

studies, family, government contracts for the mines or

just capturing the beauty of the local nature. We can

find here the works of prominent representatives of the

Slovak modernism: (a garden theme by Janko Alexy, Ján Mudroch with a grim image of the

Miners of Handlova, Maximilian Schurmann, who grew up in Handlova, Peter Romaňák

worked in Handlová and Nováky from 1960 to 1961. Edita Ambrušová painted the Church of

St. Nicholas in the village of Poruba, dating to the 14th century).

Second room

Second room is dedicated to the work of Jozef Fedora, who was a significant personality of

artistic and cultural life with nationwide influence. Part of the presented works represents a

cycle of watercolors depicting villages and towns in the territory of Upper Nitra. Another

artist captured his experiences of France in a similar way. There is a self-portrait of Jozef

Fedora which was painted in 1948. He devoted himself to drawing, graphics, watercolor

painting, tempera and oil painting. Fedor's works are complemented by landscape paintings

by painters from the region of Upper Nitra (Vladimír Vestenický, Imrich Vysočan and

Vojtech Petrovics).

Third room

shows the work of younger generation of artists born around 1930. Alojz Petráš who was born

and lived in Prievidza was a special representative. His paintings are dynamic, abstract, with

emotional colors. Magdaléna Štrompachová, as one of the two female painters in this

exhibition, brought lyricism and poetism into her work focusing on love and motherhood. She

drew inspiration not only from literary sources but also from her own life. Together with her

husband, also academic painter Ľudovít Štrompach, they founded an art department at the

elementary art school in Prievidza.

Castle chapel

Castle chapel was built on the fortification bastion. It

was completed and consecrated in the middle of the

17th century by Countess Francis Khuen Pálfi. The

chapel was originally dedicated to the Virgin Mary. During the last neo-gothic reconstruction

two scenes from the life of St. John of Capistrano were added to it and it was dedicated to

him. The central object of the chapel is known as the Bojnice Altar. It contains panel

paintings by Italian master Nardo di Cione dating to the 14th century. The central motive is

the Virgin Mary with Jesus surrounded by figures of saints. It is an important piece of art

from the original collections of Count John Pálfi. There is also a unique installation of the

altar boards, which are protected in a modern way by a glass box with gallery lighting and

own air conditioning.

There are four saints - on the left there are St. Nicholas and St. Paul, on the right the

Hungarian kings – St. Ladislaus and St. Stephen. There are two scenes from the life of Saint

Elizabeth of Thuringia under the emporium on the right and left.

Castle Apartments

Castle apartments are residential areas that were added

to the original defensive walls in the Baroque period.

The long corridor was originally a communication

space between the first and the second courtyard. The rooms which are accessible from this

corridor are now furnished with furniture from the 19th century and accompanied by a rich

gallery of paintings dating to the 19th and 20th century.

The permanent exhibition in the apartments has been created exclusively from the

collections of the Slovak National Bojnice Museum. It aims to outline the basic tendencies of

Central European painting of the 19th century with an overlap until the 1930s. The main

works of the exposition are paintings by artists who belonged to the period of German (Anton

Schlesinger), Austrian (Raimund Vichera), Hungarian (József Rippl-Rónai), Czech (Bedřich

Kavánek) and Slovak (Jozef Czauczik) art history. We present works of art depicting

secessional, classical, impressionist and realistic epochs from the stylistic streams point of

view at the turn of the 19th and the 20th century.

The influence of symbolism and

secession manifests itself mainly

in mythological themes. The

outdoor painting became more

luministic and more

impressionistic. The popular

themes were portrait, landscape,

still life and genre painting.

However, the predominant artistic

theme was the portrait, which was

supposed to capture a true version

of the reality. The portrait moved

away from presentation purposes,

and served as a memory for the

offspring. Pocket formats became very popular. The elements of luminism and the

impressionist tendencies of this period were mainly applied in landscape painting.

Neo-Renaissance bedroom

Neo-renaissance bedroom contains the furniture set dating to the second half of the 19th

century. Cabinets, bed ends and bedside tables are decorated with carvings using Renaissance

elements. The dominant elements in the decoration of all pieces of furniture are rectangular

mirrors with the motif of "beschlägwerk" (rewound ornament), in the middle of which are

rosettes in the form of acanthus leaves.

Dining room

Dining room`s furniture was made in the late

19th and early 20th century. There are some

elements in the decoration that originated in

Great Britain in the 18th century. These are

mainly bent legs on chairs, tables, showcases

and sideboards. The surface of the individual

furniture pieces is decorated with geometric

inlay in form of stripes and the middle the

surface is filled with veneer cut from tree roots,

also called root veneer.

Pink salon

Pink salon has a neo-baroque sofa with a table made in the second half of the 19th century.

There are baroque elements, like shells and volutes in the wood decoration. The artistic

presentation is completed with classical chairs.

Golden salon

Golden salon contains furniture and a large mirror, dating to the second period of Rococo

(first half of the 19th century). The decoration is dominated by rococo ornaments, shells,

grilles, volutes and acanthus leaves. There is also a sideboard from the end of the 18th

century, which in addition to carving is also decorated with a painting on the door. The rococo

scene depicts a lady and a gentleman sitting on a bench under a tree.

The richly carved cupboard

clock shows architectural

elements of

Renaissance (open

niche, columns

with heels and

heads, diamond cuts

and balustrade). The clock is

engraved: M. E. Tulisky, a watchmaker in

Banská Bystrica in the 19th century.

Seccession bedroom

Secession bedroom`s furniture represents complete bedroom furnishings at the turn of the

19th and 20th century. The individual pieces have carved motifs of flowers and pomegranate.

The dressing table has a mirror and ceramic tiles. Decorative brass fittings have plant motifs.

We would like to thank you for coming and look forward to seeing you again!