Biedermeier. Domestic (Slovak) and European connections of Biedermeier Style
Slovak national gallery / Institute of Art History, UK, Bratislava

An international colloque is oriented to the reflection and connections of Biedermeier Style in Central Europe, organized by Slovak national gallery and Institute of Art History at the Comenius University in Bratislava. It is prepared at the occasion of the exhibition Biedermeier, which was opened at June 18, 2015 at the Slovak national gallery and will be held until November 1, 2015. During the two days of the colloque will concentrate on the presentation of papers and discussion as well as special guided tour at the exhibition. The main topics will be oriented to the position of Biedermeier in Central Europe, contact within the center and Upper Hungary (now Slovakia), artistic exchange and influence of other art styles during the first half of the 19th century in former Austrian monarchy.

Biedermeier, a relatively neglected artistic style in Slovak art history was an important interstage for the transformation of society and cultural life in the first half of the 19th century in the Austrian Monarchy. This period art oscillated between Romanticism and Realism; it was the era of technical developments, big artistic exchange, traveling throughout the country and the wide world, and the development of rail and steamship transportation. We were captivated by the view and interpretation of the phenomenon at the beginning of a new awareness of society, an environment in which people were building their own private space, and the tremendous and rapid development of modern achievements. The exhibition Biedermeier represents one of the first attempts to look at this period through the prism of field research in museums and galleries especially in Slovakia and Hungary, which as the art material itself has proved, is incomplete. Since there are many unanswered questions related to applied arts, painting and sculpture, the processing of all of the variations of art of the pre-March period of the 19th century was created the platform of the colloque. It will focus on the fundamental themes which best characterize the Biedermeier period– everydayness, interest in the world of emotions and nature, development of the portrait genre in various media, alternation between high quality manual production and the simultaneous growth of mass production. The individual themes are based on fine art and distinctively complemented by selected applied art and furniture design.

Suggested topics:
- Contemporary reflection of Biedermeier
- Pluralism of ideas and styles of Biedermeier
- From Vienna / Buda / Pest to the “periphery”, migration of artists and craftsmen in Central Europe
- Between “merchant rococo” and ways to modernization
- Biedermeier art and design in Slovak and international collections
- Technical aspect of the Biedermeier era
- Biedermeier and Neo-biedermeier

Conference language: Slovak, Czech, English (simultaneous translation will be provided)

The conference papers edited as standard scientific articles will be publish in book of texts until January 2016.

We kindly ask you to submit the abstract of your suggested paper by July 31, 2015 to this email address: katarina.benovasng.sk

Contact:
Mgr. Katarína Beńová, PhD.
katarina.benovasng.sk / 00421 905 223 601
Slovak national gallery / Institute of Art History, UK, Bratislava
www.sng.sk / www.fhil.uniba.sk

With the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of Slovak republic.