Image: Bratislava City Gallery
The Bratislava City Gallery will launch ‘Erna Masarovičová – Monumentálna’, a new publication devoted to the monumental work of Slovak sculptor Erna Masarovičová, on 10 September at 5pm. The free event will take place at Ex Libris in Mirbach Palace, the gallery’s historic venue on Františkánske námestie in Bratislava.
According to the gallery, the book explores Masarovičová’s distinctive engagement with metal, space and form. The launch is presented as an opportunity to revisit the work of a sculptor whose practice is associated with strength, dynamism and a sense of continuing relevance. The publication follows the artist-focused exhibition ‘Erna monumentálna. Erna Masarovičová a jej sochárska tvorba’, held at the Bratislava City Gallery in 2022.
That exhibition examined Masarovičová’s sculptural production through a comprehensive group of carefully developed models for monumental works, shown together publicly for the first time. The gallery described her as a singular presence in the Slovak art scene, with an intensive practice lasting half a century. Alongside monumental realisations, she was also a pioneer of medal-making and an accomplished jewellery artist.
Masarovičová’s work is recognised for a technically focused approach that brings delicacy to cold, rough and often substantial materials. The 2022 exhibition presented her welded sculpture as a continuation of interrupted traditions in modern sculpture, while emphasising her ability to translate the changing dynamics of organic forms into metal.
The sculptor worked in Bratislava throughout her life. She grew up in Betliar, whose collections provided inspiration for a number of animal motifs in her work, and later settled in a house on Gorazdova Street in Bratislava, a site that now hosts art symposia. Her daughter, artist Katarína Kissoczy, discussed one of Masarovičová’s works, ‘Dvojhlavý vták’, in a gallery-produced instalment of the series ‘Oči dokorán’.
The September launch will be held jointly in the spaces of the Bratislava City Gallery and the Ex Libris bookshop at Mirbach Palace. Admission is free. The gallery, established as the city’s municipal art institution, operates from Mirbach Palace and Pálffy Palace, where it presents exhibitions, collection displays and public programmes. The event begins at 17:00 on 10 September 2026.
