AN EXHIBITION of bookplates called Slovenský EX LIBRIS opened on May 24 in the Italian town of Ortona. The exhibition was prepared by the Slovak Institute in Rome for Ortona’s Mediterranean Museum and Gallery, Museo Ex Libris Mediterraneo that specialises in bookplates in addition to the other artistic forms.
“The exhibition consists of 21 works by renowned Slovak artists, like Albín Brunovský, Karol Ondreička, Vladimír Gažovič, Robert Jančovič, Karol Felix, and others,” Peter Krupár, the head of the Slovak Institute in Rome, told the TASR newswire. Krupár opened the exhibition, together with the director of the gallery, Carlo Sanvitale and Ortona mayor Nicola Fratino. The exhibition was designed by curator Ivan Panenka, in cooperation with Italian curator and collector Cristiano Beccaletto and closes on June 12.
Francesco Clavorá Braulin, a young Italian-based pianist of Slovak origin, performed works by Brahms, Chopin and Slovak composer Ilja Zeljenka at the opening. A bookplate is usually a small print or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the inside front cover, to indicate its owner. A bookplate typically bears a name, motto, coat-of-arms, badge, or any motif that relates to the owner of the book. Bookplates have recently become an object of interest to art collectors.
