⁴ The territory of present day Slovakia (historically, Upper Hungary) is connected with numerous church collections from the early Renaissance predominantly comprised of valuable books, coins and medals.  Beginning in the 17th century, the first sets of artwork occasionally appeared in their cabinets of curiosities (wunderkammer, kunstschrank); however, the thematically undefined interests of their founders continued to be focused on curiosities, natural materials, chamber sculpture, art objects and antiquities designed to demonstrate their social status and family wealth.  After the first half of the 18th century, many Hungarian aristocratic families who had country estates or summer seats began to set up and systematically develop their own collections (family portrait galleries, halls of predecessors and significant persons). The identity and patriotic pride of the local aristocracy was manifested by its love and patronage of art. The first significant steps initiated by owners in the form of generous donations occurred at the end of the 19th century; several family collections laid the foundations for the most important public institutions in Budapest and the city and regional museums in our territory.  

The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy marked the end of the great aristocratic collections in our geographical space. The reconstruction of original corpuses that were ravaged is extremely complicated due to the fact that the original inventories are rarely at our disposal. Only exhibition and auction catalogues or deposit books of public collecting institutions that oversaw the transfer of private collection items comprise relevant source material. Moreover, after the Communists assumed power, the parts of these collections left behind were gradually lost, stolen or destroyed by improper (frequently even intentional) treatment.  In addition to the liquidation at the physical level, the conceptual level was also obliterated – the foundation of the majority of collections was forcefully torn asunder, original ownership bonds ceased to exist, objects were artificially grouped in new wholes – castle, chateau and natural history expositions. The fact that these corpuses were not considered as “our” Slovak collections was the main cause for the program-based disrespect.  After 1918, during the young Czechoslovak state’s search for identity and the process of national self-awareness, the inclination toward the people, land and nation became the artistic canon. The monumentalizing and glorifying of the Slovak (i.e., rural and peasant) land did not include the estates of the (Hungarian) aristocracy, lavishly decorated manor houses, libraries and valuable collections. Such program-based ignorance is also confirmed by the fact that even within the framework of oral history, no relevant information was preserved regarding collections and collectors; even today, fragments of many valuable collections are deposited without proper expert descriptions.  

The extensive collection of European art, drawing and graphic work of Albert Kasimir von Sachsen-Teschen (1738-1822), Royal Governor of Hungary, is perhaps the most significant collection directly connected to our territory. Its foundation was laid from 1766 to1780 during Albert’s term of office in Pressburg (Bratislava). At that time, the city that would become the capital of Slovakia was the coronation city and the seat of the Hungarian Parliament, and underwent an unprecedented social, economic, architectural and artistic boom. This was related to the significant socio-graphic change – the arrival of the high aristocracy which began to settle strategically in this space.  In 1781, when the governor, together with his wife Maria Christina, daughter of Maria Theresa, left for the Netherlands, aristocrats, businessmen and merchants left with them and Albert took with him that part of the collection which he had acquired on his own, as well as the paintings that were a part of his wife’s dowry, and continued in his collecting activities. The original imperial collection was left at the Bratislava Castle and served as the depository of the Habsburg court until 1783, when it was transferred to the Buda Castle. Thanks to written sources, descriptions and inventories, we have an idea of the nature of this collection, parts of which can be found in many European museums and galleries today; Albert’s extensive European graphic work laid the foundation for the important Albertina collection in Vienna.    

In 1783, Bratislava lost its statute as the capital of Hungary and central authorities were transferred to Vienna and Buda. A relatively fast decline from an important center of the monarchy towards provinciality followed and its advantageous geographical location became more of a determining factor for its importance. Significant business and industrial development did not reach this region until the second half of the 19th century; the process of forming a national identity also began to be more intensive in this period. The first municipal and regional museums whose activities fulfilled the functions of non-existing public collections were founded in the second half of that century and the first art exhibitions were organized in Bratislava (1853) and Košice (1857).  

Noteworthy comments were provided by the second art exhibition which was held in Bratislava in 1865 – it was a typical crafts and trades exhibition reflecting the activities of local craftsmen and tradesmen but in terms of our subject, it was important because for the first time the collections of local private collectors – aristocrats, as well as townsmen and entrepreneurs, were presented. A catalogue of this exhibition was also published; it contained the basic information about the exhibited works and their owners and today it documents the multicultural nature and abundant social layering of the local society of collectors.  The first town museum was established in 1870 – exhibits were acquired from donations (from guilds, associations and institutions), inheritances and naturally by acquisition. Pressburger Kunstverein, the first art society, founded in 1885 by Štefan Esterházy, the District Administrator of Pressburg (Bratislava), played a significant role in developing the city’s cultural awareness. It organized salons and exhibitions for the general public, at first arranging for the export of period pieces from Vienna and Budapest and later accepting local artists.  Although attendance at annual exhibitions was high, the purchasing power of the local population was rather weak. 

Count Ján Pálffy (1829-1908), one of the most important figures of Central European collecting of the second half of the 19th century, is also connected to Bratislava and the territory of Slovakia through family tradition and his political and business activities. His first acquisitions were carried out in Bratislava in 1847 and 1850. The focus of the collection extended the geographical radius – his first purchases at the Vienna antiquary Palach were followed by others in Munich, Venice, Florence and Paris. (Ludiková, 2013, s. 20) He kept numerous items at the chateau in Bojnice, the Baroque manor house in Kráľová pri Senci, chateaus in Pezinok, Dolné Topoľníky, Suchá nad Parnou and in his Bratislava palace. In his last will he requested that the collection be preserved as a whole and made accessible to the general public. Count Pálffy bequeathed the most valuable part of the collection of 177 works of artwork (114 from his Bratislava palace) to the Szépmüvészeti Museum in Budapest. Several catalogues and monographs provide information related to the extent of this donation. However, the last will was contested by members of the Pálffy family and a lengthy conflict ensued.  Eventually, based on an agreement between the family and the state, all of the artwork⁵ that was not transferred to the ownership of the Budapest public collection was sold in a public auction.  Pálffy’s extensive collections became the foundation for the Hungarian National Museum, the Hungarian National Gallery and the separate collection of European painting of the Slovak National Gallery. 

The house of Andrássy, one of the most powerful families in Hungary, also became famous as collectors of antiquities and artwork. However, their approach to the preservation of their rich and diverse collections was more important than the collections themselves. Count Emanuel I. Andrássy (1821-1891), a significant figure of cultural and social life, an enthusiastic collector, and amateur historian and archeologist, designed his mansions (Betliar/Betlér, Parchovany/Parnó, Budapest) to accommodate his collection. However, before 1857,  based on agreements among the members of this extensive family, a unique museum open to the general public and even for free admission on some days was established at the main residence castle of the house of Andrássy. Dionýz (1835-1913), the last male descendant of the younger branch of the Andrássy family and known as a patron and collector, was also unique.  In 1909, he built a separate gallery in Krásnohorské Podhradie for his collection of contemporary artists (Böcklin, Stuck, Uhde, Quincy Adams...). However, in accordance with his last will, Dionýz’s collection was transferred to the Szépmüvészeti Museum in Budapest in 1913.

By the end of the 19th century, the aristocracy’s role as the traditional protector of art within the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was partially diminished due to the ambitions of the prosperous Jewish bourgeoisie and middle class. The collection of Baron Karl Kuffner (1847-1924), an important entrepreneur and innovator in the sugar industry in Sládkovičovo (Diószeg), represents evidence of this shift in our territory. Currently it is connected with Raoul Kuffner de Dioszegh (1886-1962), the baron’s son and only heir and his second wife, the famous painter Tamara de Lempicka (1898-1980), thanks to publicity related to their luxurious way of life after their emigration to the USA and the gradual sale of the family estate.   Ironically, the fact that the collection was legally exported in 1939 (consent was conditioned on the donation of an important work to the Szépmüvészeti Museum in Budapest) provides us with a partial overview, thanks to the register elaborated by the museum workers for the needs of export.  The collection was comprised of 108 works of Dutch and Flemish old masters, Italian artwork (especially portraits of Madonna from the 16th century and many later copies of this motif, and arts and crafts items). (Varga, 2009) Ingrid Ciulisová mentions the 1932 application addressed to the National Monument Protection Department in Bratislava; also in this case, the consent was conditioned on the free of charge transfer of 17 pieces to the collections of Slovak public collections. We can naturally reconstruct the Kuffner collection through the activities of art market representatives in New York in the 1940s and 1950s – the Parke-Bernet auction catalogues (the auction of November 1948, which offered up to 65 artworks from this collection) and the activities of the Paul Drey Gallery⁶.  Today, numerous works from the Kuffner collection are in the ownership of significant American museums and collection institutions. 

Grazioso Enea Lanfranconi (1850-1895), was a prominent Italian hydrologist and waterworks specialist. He was also an enthusiastic collector.  The artwork that he acquired during his work-related stay in Bratislava, is an example of an important non-aristocratic collection. This set incorporated approximately three hundred paintings, predominantly of Dutch and Flemish provenance (the collection of Peter Paul Rubens and his school was especially significant); however, Italian, French and Spanish works were also represented. The catalogue of old masters compiled by art critic Emmerich Ranzoni (1823-1898) at the beginning of the 1880s provides a partial list of his holdings. Lanfranconi acquired the artwork through purchases from important European collections and he frequently consulted with respected experts. In 1888, he donated a significant part of his collection comprised of graphic works with the motifs of Bratislava and its surroundings to the City Museum; today they are in the ownership of the Bratislava City Gallery. After Lanfranconi’s tragic death, the majority of the collection, over 10,000 works of art, books, graphic sheets and maps, was purchased by the Hungarian government for the National Museum in Budapest. The rest of the collection was sold at an auction in Koln am Rhine and thus found their way to major international collecting institutions.   

In addition to Lanfranconi’s activities, several famous aristocratic and middle class families in Bratislava were actively involved in collecting at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.  Noteworthy aristocrats included František Török, Karol Nyáry and Emil Mirbach, who in his last will bequeathed his collection and palace to the town with the wish that it be opened to the general public as an art museum  (from 1950, the seat of the newly established Bratislava City Gallery). Among burgers, the collections of Hübner, Eder, Stampfel and Scherc are important because they laid the foundation for the Bratislava City Museum and their existence is documented by written materials in the museum records.  

The interwar period boasted a rich entrepreneurial class that we assume was active in collecting in the territory of present day Slovakia, but the traces of their activities are completely lost and we have almost no knowledge related to holdings from this period. Perhaps this is also due to the fact that many these collectors came from prominent Jewish or “non-Slovak” families⁷. This is confirmed by the collection of attorney Dr. Leo Ringwald (1888-1968) of Trenčín, a part of which appeared in 2012 in Slovakia at a public auction. Ironically, we have little relevant information in the domestic context about this extensive and significant collection which contained several hundred works of Ladislav Mednyánszky (1851-1919) and certainly other more precious art historical items; however, in 1939, shortly before their export to the Great Britain, they were recorded by Ernő Kállai, a member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences when cataloguing the works of Mednyánszky. In 1962, Ringwald himself contacted the management of the Slovak National Gallery and met with SNG representatives in London where he proposed to loan and document the collection.  He even offered to sell some of the works.  Unfortunately the possibility of obtaining them  and in fact all other contacts were frustrated by political conditions, and as time passed even this collection vanished into oblivion⁸.

The lower middle class regularly purchased art due to the need to “consume” culture, and thus the buying of fine art in those days was a manifestation of good manners.  These collections built on financially affordable and compact works – small drawings and graphic works, also perished.  Documents from local art societies of that time indicate that domestic artists suffered from the lack of customers in the interwar period and that interest from the private sector did not exist. However, with the gradual strengthening of the position of Slovak intellectuals, the bonds of cultural cooperation grew deeper and collecting artwork created generational contemporaries (contemporary Czech and Slovak art) and became a natural phenomenon. If this development had not been forcibly interrupted after 1948, such activities concentrated around our cultural elite could have formed a critical platform for modern collecting in the territory of Slovakia.  

4 I would like to thank Július Barczi, who is researching the history of collecting for his thesis and who is currently the director of the Betliar Museum, part of the Slovak National Museum, for his valuable contributions and comments to this chapter.   

5 The estate of Count Pálffy was sold at several auctions from 1921to 1926 (Vienna , Piešťany, Prague, Košice, Karlove Vary).


6 For more information related to individual works, see Kuffnerovská umelecká zbierka (Varga, 2009) 

7 Jana Švantnerová is doing pioneering research of aryanized artwork and nationalized Jewish estates. See the summarizing publication Tieň minulosti (Švantnerová, 2013)

8 See (Barczi, 2012)