Ida Sládková
Collecting is as old activity as art. Collectors are those people we should be thankful for their hobby that helped to protect artworks which are now part of cultural heritage of mankind. Folk art is a rare part of such collections. The situation changed in the late 19th century when utility and daily use objects started to be included in various collections. Folk “design” started to be protected, subject of research of ethnographers and, thanks to availability, an object of collecting. The Ethnographic Exhibition in 1885 in Prague played an important role in activating enthusiasts to build private collections of folk art which later became foundation stone of the Slovak museums.
Authority in the field of folk art production and ethnographer Jozef Lenhart, master of three crafts and old master´s technique maker, supported folk art. The collection of Jozef Lenhart is an collection of an ethnographer collecting mainly shepherd art of his home region. The collection was compiled in the 1930s with the industrialisation and development of mining in Handlová region that changed the traditional farming lifestyle and eliminated traditional creative activity.
Master Lenhart believes that things will find him, without wanting or not wanting. They come, he makes them his own for some time to redefine their existence. They have their own life and let those who want listen know about their past.