The small cardboard painting by Juraj Collinásy has been a part of the Nitra Gallery collection since its acquisition in 1972. It was selected for its harvest theme and the period’s focus on building a collection of works related to the region’s agricultural focus. Agricultural themes were specific to the gallery’s original acquisition strategy and only time can tell us whether this has/has not been a sustainable model. The Košice painter Juraj Collinásy is a successor of Košice modernism, but his work goes far beyond the limits of eastern Slovakia. Collinásy was an exceptional colourist, which is also proved by the small format painting which is a part of the Nitra Gallery collection. The Harvest painting is an oil on paper. His expressive brush strokes uncover a landscape with a fertile yellow field, with two figures of a man and a woman in the foreground, appearing and disappearing at the same time in the cereal straw. The right side outlines a pile of hay. This simple agricultural theme has a dynamic outcome. We can almost feel the warm summer breeze in the field.
Juraj Collinásy (June 29, 1907 Szerencs – November 22, 1963 Košice) – his presence in the Nitra Gallery collection is rare despite leaving behind a rather extensive catalogue. His student years are linked to Eugen Krón’s private school in Košice (1924 – 1927), later he studied in Prague under Vincenc Beneš (1927 – 1929). His paintings are dominated by landscapes, still life and intimate female figural compositions set in civilian interiors. His language focused on colour coordination with experimental decorative overlaps which makes him one of the figures of Slovak modernism. His artistic paintings are linked to photography. He was influenced by the work of Konštantín Kövári-Kačmarik. After his studies in Košice, which became a part of Hungary in 1939, he spent most of his time in the Hungarian art community.
During his life, he exhibited in Košice (1949,1957) and in Bratislava (1950,1958). Posthumously at the East Slovak Gallery in Košice (2008), Bratislava City Gallery (2009), the East Slovak Museum and Prešov Regional Gallery (2018).
— Ľudmila Kasaj Poláčková
Bibliography
VÁROSS, Marian: Slovenské výtvarné umenie 1918 – 45 [Slovak Fine Art 1918 – 45]. Bratislava: Slovenské vydavateľstvo krásnej literatúry, 1960, p. 210
https://www.webumenia.sk/autor/1621, accessed on, May 21, 2023
https://krajskagaleria.sk/2018/04/juraj-collinasy-1907-1963/, accessed on May 11, 2023
https://www.gmb.sk/detail/juraj-collinasy-1907-1963-29-oktober-11-januar-2009, accessed on May 11, 2023
Inventory No.: O 452
Artist: Juraj Collinásy
Title: Harvest
Year of origin: around 1950
Technique: oil
Material: cardboard
Dimensions: 33,5 cm × 48 cm
Signature: bottom left: Collinásy