Magdaléna Robinsonová

Magdaléna Robinsonová / výstava

Biography

Magdaléna Robinsonová (*17 May 1924, Žilina – †24 July 2006, Bratislava)
She had a carefree childhood, surrounded by the love of her parents. Her school years, however, were disrupted by the social changes taking place in the country. Anti-Jewish racial laws came into force in Slovakia, tragically affecting the entire family. Magdaléna survived the brutal years she spent in concentration camps. Even after her return to Slovakia, there was no real relief from the painful experiences that continued to haunt her. Seeking a new beginning, she moved to Prague. She had no completed formal education, but through her determination and perseverance she managed to make a living working in photographic studios across the city. She gradually supplemented her education by completing apprenticeship and journeyman examinations and obtaining the corresponding certificates. In 1947, she was admitted to the State School of Graphics, where she studied photography.
In 1950, Robinsonová returned to Slovakia and settled in Bratislava. She played an important role in establishing the photography section of the Union of Slovak Visual Artists. For a short time, she worked as a photographer at the Koliba Film Studios and later became the first freelance photographer to collaborate with the newly established Slovak National Gallery.
From the early 1950s onwards, she repeatedly returned to the Slovak countryside with her camera, documenting its landscapes and the lives of its inhabitants. In 1953, she photographed the Slovak landscape alongside the renowned painter and photographer Martin Benka. In 1955, her book of portraits from the world of theatre and film, Hercova tvár (The Actor’s Face), was published.
The birth of her son Jaroslav in 1957 inspired a new series devoted to childhood. Two years later, in 1959, she created Taliansky zápisník (Italian Notebook), a travel series documenting local people and tourists, as well as everyday life unfolding against the backdrop of Italy’s historic landscapes.
In 1962, Robinsonová returned to the Auschwitz concentration camp to photograph the places where she herself had endured unimaginable suffering. The resulting series, In memoriam Auschwitz. Nikdy viac! (In Memoriam Auschwitz. Never Again!), became one of the central works of her first solo exhibition, held that same year at the Cyprián Majerník Gallery in Bratislava.
In 1967, she created a series of photographs in Israel, whose compelling story is described in greater detail by curator Viera Kamenická in her accompanying text. Robinsonová also documented unique examples of Slovak folk sculpture in the publication Krása v dreve zakliata (Beauty Enchanted in Wood). From 1970 to 1986, she worked on the series Strašiaky, Strážcovia úrody (Scarecrows, Guardians of the Harvest).