Opening: 9. 7. 2024, 18.00
Curator: Miroslav Kleban
Exhibition duration: 10. 7. 2024 – 1. 9. 2024
Exhibition space Q, Hlavná 27, Košice
The exhibition project presents a selection of artworks from the private collection of the ArtHáz Gallery (AHG) in Košice that is not yet open to the public. In this case, the selection of works for this exhibition was subject to a specific curatorial approach. It is not strictly a classical curatorial approach, rather a cross section of one of the finest private collections in Slovakia in general, in which the collector himself has the final say. The exhibition spaces of the East Slovak Gallery have made it possible to make this private collection available to the public for the first time on a larger scale, even before it will be installed as a permanent exhibition of the ArtHáz Gallery at 87 Hlavná Street.
The exhibition of the ArtHáz collection is the result of almost 30 years of collecting activity. It is conceptually divided into three sections, reflecting specific areas of interest to the collector. These focus primarily on the Košice art circle of the first half of the 20th century with a slight overlap into the 1960s and 1970s. The first part of the exhibition is dedicated to the core of the collection, i.e. Košice Modernism, its vanguard and successors. The second part is an interesting array of Anton Jasusch’s large-scale canvases from the 1950s and 1960s, in which he returns to his major themes from the interwar period, but also reflects the socio-critical legacy of Košice Modernism. The third part, titled “Two or Two” Collection, presents a rather emotional approach without belonging to a specific circle. The title ironically refers to the confusion of the numeral two (two women – two oaks; in Slovak language the form “dva/dve” changes according to the gender of the belonging noun), which is a linguistic specificity of eastern Slovakia. The exhibition does not offer an art-historical analysis, but presents subjective preferences for high artistic quality and a reflection of our sometimes harsh art market. Thus, the exhibition does not only discuss the works themselves, but is the story of a person – a collector and the developmental stages of building an art collection. The term “harsh” art market, in case of private owners as well as state collection-making institutions, describes the undeniable reality of the unavailability of some artists from the 1920s and 1930s. Of course, it is also a question of profit, which only underlines the mystical veil of inaccessibility. Despite the difficult task of building the ArtHáz collection, the result is more than remarkable and rivals many public cultural institutions today. This is evidenced by the focus on specific authors of Košice Modernism, who form the core of this exceptional private collection. After all, collecting in Košice has a long tradition. We will not exaggerate if we look back to the phenomenon of collecting to the second half of the 19th century, to the efforts of the Klimkovič brothers, or later in the interwar period to the agile director of the East Slovak Museum, Josef Polák. Private collections stimulated the state to establish museums and galleries, and often these collections became the foundation of young institutions. Today, the ArtHáz collection is a relevant part of large international exhibition projects that present, for example, the avant-garde art of the Košice circle and their successors, or significantly complement the authors’ funds, in the case of ArtHáz especially the work of Anton Jasusch, which, according to the collector’s own words, was the beginning of it all.
The current exhibition is proof of relevant collaboration between a public institution and the private sector. The linking of collections is always necessary in curatorial concepts and scientific-research activities in the evaluation of our history, or monographic treatments of specific authors. The ArtHáz collection has several years of experience in major art-historical projects, thus it has already been evaluated by art historians, and is indispensable for current and future research in the context of art history. ArtHáz Gallery’s collection will be open to the public in 2025 in the gallery’s own premises. In addition to exhibition activities, the gallery will aim at educational and lecturing activities with a specific focus on the period of Košice Modernism.
List of authors represented at the exhibition:
Konštantín Bauer, Jozef Bendík, Juraj Collinásy, Ľudovít Csordák, Vojtech Erdélyi, Štefan Fodor, František Foltýn, Elemír Halász-Hradil, Ján Hála, Vincent Hložník, Július Jakoby, Anton Jasusch, Gejza Kieselbach, Jozef Kollár, Konštantín Kővari-Kačmarik, Eugen Krón, Štefan Prohászka-Tallós, Štefan Prukner, Gejza Schiller, Miloš Šimurda, Ernest Zmeták.
Miroslav Kleban
