A phenomenon of modern painting, a brilliant illustrator and graphic artist, one of the founders of Slovak modern art, a voice of the Slovak people, a recognized teacher, but also a scenic designer - these are all adjectives that are often used to describe one of the most outstanding artistic personalities of the 20th century, such as Ľudovít Fulla .
He was born in the days of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in 1902 in Ružomberok in the family of a well-known butcher and restaurant owner, so as a child he did not suffer too much from poverty. He had a relationship with music and visual arts since childhood, in which he was mainly supported by his mother. In 1921, he graduated from the Higher Business School in Dolny Kubín and went to a private art school in Bratislava, where he was tutored by the famous Slovak painter Gustáv Mallý. However, after a year he leaves Bratislava and tries his luck at the Art and Industrial School, later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague, where he meets Mikuláš Galand. This will lead to their lifelong friendship and at the same time close cooperation. After finishing school, he returns to his native Ružomberok for a while, where he creates works such as The Lamenting Madonna or Jánošík's Last Dance. Later, his rich teaching experience will begin. He works as a teacher in Komárno, Senica and Malacky. In addition, he constantly paints. The most famous paintings from this period are, for example, the Fish on the Table or the Roaring Family. Finally, he returns to Bratislava, where he meets Mikuláš Galand again at the School of Arts and Crafts. Together, as leading representatives of Slovak modernism, they publish the manifesto Private Letters of Full and Galand, with which they try to subscribe to the aesthetics of transnational modern civilization. The manifesto is intended for the general public, and in it Fulla and Galand express their personal opinions and reflections, often in the form of expressive jargon, in order to make them understandable to their readers. Fulla eventually becomes the director of the School of Arts and Crafts, but after health problems affect him, he moves from Bratislava to Martin, where he works closely with Matica slovakska. In 1949, he became a teacher at the newly opened Academy of Fine Arts and created perhaps the most famous illustrations for the collection of Slovak folk tales by Pavel Dobšinský. Later, he moved to Žilina, where the works Zuzana and the Old Men, Winter in the Suburbs and May Day were created. After the death of his wife in 1962, he decided to return to his native Ružomberok, where he created works such as The Father's Day, Fishermen on Váhu or Winter in Stara Žilina. In 1969, the Ľudovít Full Gallery was built in Ružomberok, where the artist worked and lived at the same time. It was a unique project, designed by architect Martin Kusé, later implemented by Štefan Hatal, which combines exhibition spaces with residential and administrative spaces. Today, the gallery is owned by SNG, as well as all the paintings that the artist donated to the state. The collection is a selection of perhaps the best that Ľudovít Fulla created in his lifetime, including the painting Song and Work, for which he won the Grand Prix in Paris in 1937. Master Fulla ended his life's journey on April 21, 1980 in Bratislava, but with his work he permanently entered the history of Slovak and world art.
Vladimír Dubeň