Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková (24 January 1909 – 7 August 2005) was a Slovak painter,

scenic design Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including Play (theatre), plays and Musical theatre, musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, wher ...

er and journalist.

Early life and education

Ester Fridriková was born in

Bratislava Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

on 23 January 1909. Her mother was a musician, who had to overcome significant barriers in her career due to her sex, which motivated her mother to support Ester in her artistic pursuits. She trained in Paris in the

interwar period In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II ( ...

at the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

and the

Académie Moderne The Académie Moderne was a free art school in Paris. It was founded by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant in 1924. The school attracted students from Europe and America. Both Léger and Ozenfant taught there, along with Aleksandra Ekster, Ott ...

. Fridriková studied extensively with

Aleksandra Ekster Aleksandra Aleksandrovna Ekster (née Grigorovich; ; ; 18 January 1882 – 17 March 1949), also known as Alexandra Exter, was a Russian and French painter and designer. As a young woman, her studio in Kiev attracted all the city's creative lum ...

, and was greatly influenced by Ekster's style of

Cubo-Futurism Cubo-Futurism () was an art movement, developed within Russian Futurism, that arose in the early 20th-century Russian Empire, defined by its amalgamation of the artistic elements found in Italian Futurism and French Analytical Cubism. Cubo-Futur ...

Career

Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková's works were repeatedly affected by the changing political climate, from her early education in the 1920s to her final works in the 1990s. Her

Modern Modern may refer to: History *Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Philosophy ...

paintings in the 1930s were described by critics as brave and pioneering, but were quickly derided as degenerate art by the Nazis after they took power. Following the war and her relocation from Bratislava, the themes of her work changed. Šimerová's early Modern works experienced a return in popularity in the 1960s, and at that time she also began experimenting in the medium of

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

. A theme that persisted throughout her works was

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

Later life

Šimerová was known for her opinions on the intersection of art and politics. In a 1934 newspaper interview, she opined that modern art "has a primarily artistic function. The social idea finds much better promotional means in photomontage, film, radio, theater and literature". Thirty years later, in 1966, she was still criticizing the overreliance of modern art on politics. Alongside her statements on the role of politics in art, Šimerová's later works often featured themes of workers, doves of peace, and other identifiably political symbols. After her first marriage, she was known as Ester Fridriková-Šimerová, and after her second as Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková. Her first husband, , was a well-respected doctor in Bratislava and later

Plzeň Plzeň (), also known in English and German as Pilsen (), is a city in the Czech Republic. It is the Statutory city (Czech Republic), fourth most populous city in the Czech Republic with about 188,000 inhabitants. It is located about west of P ...

, who supported the Resistance against the Nazis, until his arrest in 1942 and later execution. Her second husband, , was a lawyer and politician until his expulsion from public service with the 1948 coup. From the late 1940s onwards, Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková lived in

Liptovský Mikuláš Liptovský Mikuláš (; until 1952 ''Liptovský Svätý Mikuláš'', ; ) is a town in northern Slovakia, on the Váh River, about from Bratislava. It lies in the Liptov region, in Podtatranská kotlina, Liptov Basin near the Low Tatra and Tat ...

. Šimerová's health began to decline in the 1990s, and she created her final artwork in 1994. Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková died in Liptovský Mikuláš in 2005.

Awards

Šimerová received the

Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk The Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk () is an order (decoration), Order of the Czech Republic and the former Czechoslovakia. It was established in 1990 after the Velvet Revolution, and re-established in 1994 (following the dissolution of Czechosl ...

, 4th class, in 1991, awarded by President

Václav Havel Václav Havel (; 5 October 193618 December 2011) was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and dissident. Havel served as the last List of presidents of Czechoslovakia, president of Czechoslovakia from 1989 until 1992, prior to the dissol ...

. In 2001, she was awarded the

Order of Ľudovít Štúr The Order of Ľudovít Štúr () is the third highest Slovak state decoration (after the Order of the White Double Cross and the Orders, decorations, and medals of Slovakia#Andrej Hlinka Order, Order of Andrej Hlinka) conferred by the President ...

, 1st class, by President

Rudolf Schuster Rudolf Schuster (born 4 January 1934) is a Slovak politician, who served as the second president of Slovakia from 1999 to 2004. He was elected on 29 May 1999 and inaugurated on 15 June. In the presidential elections of April 2004, in which he so ...

Legacy

Šimerová's

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

works are recognized as an integral part of Slovak art history, and Šimerová is known as the "first lady of Slovak painting". In 1987, the Czechoslovak post published the reproduction of her artwork ''Tulips'' on a stamp. In 2016,

Slovenská pošta Slovenská pošta, a. s. (literally Slovak Post) is a state-owned company responsible for providing Mail, postal service in Slovakia established on 1 January 1993 when Slovakia became an independent state and became a public limited company owne ...

chose Chess composition artwork to be depicted on a stamp. A 2014 book by L̕udmila Peterajová includes prints of a number of her artworks, and a biography.

References