Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková

Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková (24 January 1909 – 7 August 2005) was a Slovak painter, scenic designer and journalist.

Early life and education Ester Fridriková was born in Bratislava on 23 January 1909. Her mother was a musician, who had to overcome significant barriers in her career due to her sex, which motivated her mother to support Ester in her artistic pursuits.

She trained in Paris in the interwar period at the Académie Julian and the Académie Moderne. Fridriková studied extensively with Aleksandra Ekster, and was greatly influenced by Ekster's style of Cubo-Futurism.

Career Ester Šimerová-Martinčeková's works were repeatedly affected by the changing political climate, from her early education in the 1920s to her final works in the 1990s. Her Modern paintings in the 1930s were described by critics as brave and pioneering, but were quickly derided as degenerate art by the Nazis after they took power.

Following the war and her relocation from Bratislava, the themes of her work changed. Šimerová's early Modern works experienced a return in popularity in the 1960s, and at that time she also began experimenting in the medium of collage. A theme that persisted throughout her works was chess.

Legacy Šimerová's Cubist works are recognized as an integral part of Slovak art history, and Šimerová is known as the "first lady of Slovak painting".

In 1987, the Czechoslovak post published the reproduction of her artwork Tulips on a stamp. In 2016, Slovenská pošta chose Chess composition artwork to be depicted on a stamp.

A 2014 book by L̕udmila Peterajová includes prints of a number of her artworks, and a biography.