Palffy Palace

Recently I visited one of the many local art galleries, this is one of the City Galleries of Bratislava, housed in Palffy Palace. The various paintings and sculptures, many dating from the mid 1800’s, were quite beautiful. There was one painting that caught my eye; I unfortunately didn't copy down the particulars about artist and title, but it was entitled something along the lines of Clowns Riding. I am not a huge fan of clowns but these were not your typical circus clowns, but rather harlequin dressed and on horseback, as though they were on their way to attend a Venetian fancy dress ball during carnival. It was a bit abstract and there was an air of darkness about the piece, one might call it macabre. For whatever reason, the painting left an impression with me.

A particular highlight for me was an exhibit of André Ketész black and white photography, many dating from 1918. Most of the photographs were taken here in Bratislava or in Romania. There were two photographs that stood out for me. The first was a shot of a side street in the city, cobble stoned and narrow. The photographer had captured an image of an older woman looking over her shoulder at the camera. Off to the left of the shot, a ladder leaned against one of the buildings and a blurred image of a cat was captured running up the ladder. It is a wonderful photograph!!!

The second image of note was of a young girl sitting in a field of wild flowers, she was surrounded by fluffy goslings, and even her lap was full of these little darlings. I suppose it is the aura of history about the photos that I found appealing; also I have a particular affinity for black and white photography.

Remember to enjoy the journey!!!!