Silvia Senesi Lutherova | Academy of Fine Arts and Design Bratislava (original) (raw)

Books by Silvia Senesi Lutherova

320 stoličiek. Historická kolekcia stoličiek z ohýbaného dreva - Tatra nábytok Pravenec, 2005

Katalóg k výstave 320 stoličiek je prvou a dosiaľ jedinou publikáciou zameranou na históriu dizaj... more Katalóg k výstave 320 stoličiek je prvou a dosiaľ jedinou publikáciou zameranou na históriu dizajnérskych návrhov a produktov významnej československej firmy na ohýbaný nábytok: Tatra nábytok Pravenec. Impulzom k umeleckohistorickému výskumu sa stalo objavenie rozsiahlej kolekcie stoličiek v schátraných priestoroch niekdajšej výrobne, zahŕňajúcej ako populárne vzory z obdobia 80. rokov, tak dosiaľ neznáme dizajnérske prorotypy z ostatných období fungovania podniku. Na podnet Slovenského centra dizajnu Silvia Lutherová podrobila kolekciu dôslednému výskumu, v rámci ktorého boli identifikované a datované jednotlivé typy aj série sedacieho nábytku a priradené k dizajnérom, spolupracujúcim s podnikom. Výstupom výskumu bola dôsledná databáza autorských aj štandardizovaných vzorov, zasadená do tradície výroby ohýbaného nábytku na Slovensku i v stredoeurópskom regióne, ktorá bola prezentovaná na výstave v design factory v Bratislave v roku 2005. Poznatky z výskumu a tiež bohatá obrazová dokumentácia boli sumarizované vo výstavnom katalógu, vydaného Slovenským centrom dizajnu.
The catalog for the exhibition „320 chairs“ is the first and so far the only publication focused on the history of designs and products of a major Czechoslovak company for bentwood furniture: Tatra furniture Pravenec. The impuls for art historical research was the discovery of an extensive collection of chairs in the dilapidated premises of the former factory, including both popular models from the 80's and hitherto unknown design prophotypes from other periods of the company's operation. At the initiative of the Slovak Design Center, Silvia Lutherová subjected the collection to thorough research, in which individual types and series of seating furniture were identified and dated and assigned to designers cooperating with the company. The output of the research was a consistent database of authorial and standardized designs, set in the tradition of production of bentwood furniture in Slovakia and the Central European region, which was presented at the exhibition in the design factory in Bratislava in 2005. issued by the Slovak Design Center. Findings from the research as well as rich pictorial documentation were summarized in the exhibition catalog published by the Slovak Design Center.

Estetika centra a periférie - centrum a periféria estetiky, 2020

“The Movement for Quality” Please scroll down for English... „Hnutie za kvalitu“ predstavuje ide... more “The Movement for Quality” Please scroll down for English...
„Hnutie za kvalitu“ predstavuje ideový rámec modernizačnej reformy bytovej kultúry na Slovensku, formulovaný odborným diskurzom v 20. rokoch 20. storočia. Signalizuje prehodnocovanie funkcií a významov umeleckých odvetví spojených s každodenným životom urbánnej spoločnosti. Cieľom reformy je demokratizácia bývania, zvýšenie všeobecného životného štandardu a sfunkčnenie obytného prostredia, dosiahnuteľné modernizáciou umeleckého priemyslu. Dichotómia kategórií centrum a periféria je v diskurze hnutia obsiahnutá v zmysle polarizácie civilizačných štandardov bytovej kultúry; v konfrontácii princípov lokálneho/ národného štýlu a svetového/ internacionálneho štýlu; a tiež v programovom vymaňovaní úžitkového umenia z periférnej pozície v tradičnej hierarchii umeleckých odborov, súvisiacim s etablovaním umeleckopriemyselnej tvorby ako výtvarnej disciplíny. Umelecký priemysel je vnímaný ako prostriedok modernizácie prostredia i spoločnosti, schopný vymaniť krajinu z periférnosti duchovnej aj materiálnej. Je nástrojom rozvoja Slovenska na úroveň moderného kultúrneho a hospodárskeho centra európskeho významu.
Príspevok sa opiera o výsledky vedeckovýskumného projektu Dizajn v texte
a kontexte – Československo v medzivojnovom období, realizovaného vďaka podpore
z verejných zdrojov formou štipendia z verejných zdrojov Fondom na podporu umenia.

“The Movement for Quality” represents the ideological framework of the modernization reform of housing culture in Slovakia, formulated by a professional discourse in the 1920s. It signalizes that the functions and meanings of art fields associated with everyday life of the urban society are being reassessed. The reform aims at democratizing housing, raising the general standard of living and making the living environment more functional, achievable by the modernization of the applied art (industrial art). The dichotomy of categories such as centre and periphery is included in the movement's discourse in terms of polarization of the housing culture civilization standards; by confronting the principles of local (national) style and world (international) style; as well as in the program´s emancipation of applied art from the peripheral position in the traditional hierarchy of art fields related to the establishment of the applied art as an artistic discipline. Applied art is defined as a means of modernization of both the environment and society having the ability to emancipate a country from its spiritual and material periphery. It serves as a means of developing Slovakia achieving a level of the important, modern, cultural, and economic European center."

Umenie na Slovensku v historických a kultúrnych súvislostiach 2011, 2012

Biedermeier as a "civil style". Biedermeier housing interior in Slovakia in the context of civil ... more Biedermeier as a "civil style". Biedermeier housing interior in Slovakia in the context of civil ideas and values and its significance for the forming of modernist interior.
In the history of decorative/ applied art, Biedermeier is known as a distinctive art- and life style, whose significance surpasses the temporal borders of its duration. What is missing to a complex knowledge of Biedermeier is the area of Slovakia (Upper Hungary), which wasn´t given adequate attention in terms of decorative and interior work. We are certain, that on the territory of Slovakia, Biedermeier presents an important landmark too - it has opend way to a modern approach towards housing culture and the style of housing interior. The importance of Biedermeier lies in its ideological basis, which reflects the spreading of civil ideas and values in the contemporary society. The style of decorative/ applied arts itself, in regard to the housing culture as a whole, is a material expression, practical realization of these principles.

Silvia Senesi Lutherova: The Biedermeier Ideal of Modern Interior. p.171. The book of texts from ... more Silvia Senesi Lutherova: The Biedermeier Ideal of Modern Interior. p.171.
The book of texts from the international conference organized by Katarína Beňová and Slovak National Gallery at the occasion of the exhibition Biedermeier.
The hypothesis of my research is, that the society of the "pre-March" period asserted democratic principles in the private sphere. This has become a basis for a new lifestyle, a worldview, moral and spiritual values, culture and art, which we collectively call Biedermeier. New ideological and value concepts had a crucial importance for the rise of the specific - "civil" character of Biedermeier, based on which I label Biedermeier as a "civil style".
Biedermeier culture and style emanated from a plurality of ideas, it was a synthesis of diverse attitudes within life and art. It was a first attempt for an "all-society" and "civil" style that had the potential to address the members of all social classes.
I consider principles such as individualism and universalism, simplicity, adequacy and rationality, civilness, efficiency and economization to be a pregnant manifestation of the functioning of "civil" ideas and values. The result of the assertion of these principles is the solidity and practicality of the furniture; efficiency of form and its functional assertion in space; combinability and variability; the applying of social criteria in terms of the adjusting of housing space to the requirements and possibilities of the middle-class and the related consideration of economic criteria leading to an adequate, economic, even minimized form; furthermore social indifference of furniture forms manifested in a certain standardization and typification, or the omitting of excessive decoration with the aim to achieve a pragmatic character of the objects; also openness to technological innovations, the development of mass production, the emphasizing of truthful use of material; and the "restoration" of the dwelling and lifestyle. In this sense a specific aesthetic of rational, geometric, almost austere forms, a practical simplicity and constructiveness accentuating the function of the object, which paved the way for the development of modern interior creation.

The book of texts from the international conference organized by Katarína Beňová, Department of ... more The book of texts from the international conference organized by Katarína Beňová, Department of Fine Arts at the Faculty of Arts, Comenius University and Slovak national gallery at the occasion of the exhibition Biedermeier.

Papers by Silvia Senesi Lutherova

Forum Historiae, 2022

A significant portion of the theoretical discourse on modernization reform of applied art and des... more A significant portion of the theoretical discourse on modernization reform of applied art and design in Slovakia led by the cultural and political elite in the 1920s was based on the ideological framework of “national culture.” In journal articles, leading proponents of the reform, Josef Vydra and Antonín Hořejš, constructed the concept of “modern national applied art,” which they defined based on an objective, perceived quality: “national specificity” or a “character of national culture,” which they eventually came to label “modern peculiar character” (Vydra). This article explores the ideological framework behind the modernization reform of applied art in Slovakia as a manifestation of the formation of the nationalist discourse within culture, first in terms of the cultural confirmation of the Slovak nation and later, the Czechoslovak nation. The “national character” of modern applied art is analysed as a period-specific ideological construct, which the authors created by re-interpreting the “national culture” using modernist discourse and therefore, in opposition to the school of folk’s understanding of peculiar character. “Modern national applied art” was construed as a representation of the modern urban culture of the Slovak nation (Hořejš), and also as a synthesis of the “spirit of the nation” and the “spirit of modern times” in terms of artistic innovation (Vydra). In the last third of the 1920’s, the concept was re-defined based on the ideological framework of the Czechoslovakist discourse to become a “modern Czechoslovak peculiar character” (Vydra), which rendered the contributions to reform of applied art in Slovakia now universal for the entire nation. Nationalistic arguments on the concept of modernization reform of applied art impacted the development of culture, which was applied as a way to assert the socio-political acceptance of aesthetic reform implying the principles of avant-garde art schools.

Designum, 2019

On Modernity of Modernist Design. Please scroll down for English... Vedecký článok "O modernosti ... more On Modernity of Modernist Design. Please scroll down for English...
Vedecký článok "O modernosti modernistického dizajnu" tematicky vychádza zo state „Modernosť“, ktorá je súčasťou výskumného projektu „Dizajn v texte a kontexte“ (podporený z verejných zdrojov Fondom na podporu umenia). Článok sa zameriava na reformné modernizačné tendencie v kultúre bývania a umeleckopriemyselnej (dizajnérskej) produkcii od začiatku 20. storočia po medzivojnové obdobie v strednej a západnej Európe. V pôvodných teoreticko-kritických textoch architektov, umeleckopriemyselných tvorcov i kritikov z oblasti kultúry a hospodárstva sleduje kľúčový ideál modernizačného hnutia - „modernosť“. Skúma a kriticky analyzuje, ako je hodnota „modernosti“ v tejto dobe interpretovaná, ako je vzťahovaná k potrebám meniaceho sa každodenného života v mestskom prostredí a aké princípy sú z nej odvodzované pre tvorbu úžitkových predmetov. Ťažisko článku je postavené na interpretácii „modernosti“ vo vzťahu ku koncepciám „ducha doby“ a „autonómnej tvorby“ v oblasti umeleckého priemyslu. Tento kontext nachádzame v ranomodernistickej teórii Hermanna Muthesia a jeho ďalšie interpretácie sledujeme v textoch medzivojnovej československej kritiky Karla Teige a Antonína Hořejša.

The paper title: On Modernity of Modernist Design.
In the end of the paper you will find a short excerpt in English.

Pamiatky a múzeá, 2014

Biedermeier furniture from Spiš. Please scroll down for English... Článok vychádza z komplexného ... more Biedermeier furniture from Spiš. Please scroll down for English...
Článok vychádza z komplexného vedeckého výskumu nábytku v štýle biedermeier v zbierkach múzeí a galérií na Slovensku, uskutočneného v rokoch 2004 – 2009. Zameriava sa na nábytok v zbierkach spišských múzeí a nastoľuje tézu, že ide o špecifický variant štýlu biedermeier, ktorý na vplyvy z iných krajín nielen tvorivo reagoval, ale dokázal ich obohatiť aj o svojský prvok. Analógie s maďarským, rakúskym a nemeckým biedermeierom plnia funkciu východiskovej bázy. Vo formovom aparáte spišského biedermeierovského nábytku je navyše cítiť vnímavosť a otvorenosť voči miestnej umeleckej tradícii, prejavujúcej sa vnášaním prvkov z bohatej škály ornamentiky spišskej renesančnej, barokovej i klasicistickej architektúry, ako aj z diel úžitkového umenia.

Biedermeier furniture from Spiš
Biedermeier furniture in the collections of Spiš museums, which was probably made locally, represents a specific variant of the Biedermeier style. The Spiš Biedermeier not only creatively reacted to the influences from other countries, it also succeeded in adding new features. Analogies with Hungarian, Austrian and German Biedermeier serve the function of the source basis. The form of the Spiš Biedermeier furniture sensitively and openly approach the local artistic tradition, which can be seen in incorporating the element from the rich ornamental selection of the Spiš renaissance, baroque and classicistic architecture, as well as the craftsmen´s works.

Designum, 2018

"Everyday Life Details", Please scroll down for English... Vedecký článok "Detaily každodenného ž... more "Everyday Life Details", Please scroll down for English...
Vedecký článok "Detaily každodenného života" tematicky vychádza zo state Každodennosť, ktorá je súčasťou výskumného projektu "Dizajn v texte a kontexte" podporeného z verených zdrojov Fondom na podporu umenia. Článok sa zameriava na reformné tendencie priekopníkov modernizácie kultúry bývania a umeleckopriemyselnej (dizajnérskej) produkcie na prelome 19. a 20. storočia v Strednej a Západnej Európe. V pôvodných teoreticko-kritických textoch dizajnérov, architektov a výrobcov sleduje a interpretuje témy "estetizácie každodenného prostredia" a "zúčelnenia každodennosti" na pozadí formujúcich sa modernistických hnutí. Cieľom článku i celého projektu je podnietiť v našom prostredí záujem o kritické uvažovanie o dizajne a vnímanie dizajnu v širšom kontexte materiálnej kultúry, sociálnej a kultúrnej histórie či technologického rozvoja. Prostriedkom je kritická analýza teórií a konceptov dizajnu, ktoré sa ukazujú ako kľúčové pre históriu teórie a praxe dizajnu v našom prostredí.

"Everyday Life Details", a paper from the research project "Design in Text and Context", supported by Slovak Arts Council, has been published in the magazine Designum, 2/2018.

Aestheticization of Dailiness:
"A man´s worldview has changed, artistic movements have undergone several developmental phases, and art industry stopped in its development at the task to find the happiest conditions for a man in his earthly life (...) Just as they only guessed the enormous and beautiful tasks and the meaning of art industry 50 years ago, we can now appreciate its benefits and wholesome infiltration into an individual´s life and also society´s." says Antonín Hořejš on the occasion of the Exhibition of Modern Art Indrustry in 1927 in Bratislava.
How did the worldview of a man at the beginning of the 20th century change, and how could art industry, respectively design, meet the changing needs of the everyday life? These questions sovereignly dominate among topics of expert critics of living culture and applied art during the whole twenties of the 20th Century in Czechoslovakia. The term "art industry" was young back then and also the field of production it names, it was just looking for its exact content and borders.
Modernisation of art industry in the economy and housing culture of the young republic, respectively Slovakia, is slow and that could be the reason why experts critics accumulate arguments about its meaning in an individual´s everyday life. "It has nothing to do with architecture here, but it is about good living, better life with it" says Arnošt Bláha in 1924. The Czechoslovak critics reflect one of the dominant modernism ideals: the potential and task of art industry is to improve societal economic and social conditions. Under the pressure of political efforts for economic and social reform, they formulate the need for aesthetic reform that they relate right to the issue of everyday life in the modern city enviroment, living space and its furnishings. As the shared starting point of these positions could be considered the conviction that increasing aesthetic level of the living enviroment has a direct influence of the quality of human life, as well as on the spiritual development of society. This tendency prompts the name "Aestheticization of Dailiness", it is becoming one of the dominant means of the reform targets by the decorative arts movement in Czechoslovakia. The commentary by Antonín Hořejš from 1930 proves it: "The modern decorative arts movement aims to awaken in consumerism the interest in beautiful products and quality products, and force production to respect the needs of the era and its taste. With this agenda, the movement is gradually gaining even more supporters. It is also affecting production that is step by step realising the point of quality beautiful shape, and colour. It is captivating population, seizing its style, re-educating it and influencing the worldview. In it lies the immensely important cultural mission that the movement bring along."