The Stage Design Collection was founded upon its first acquisition in 1979. Within the framework of the collections of applied arts and design, this became one of the youngest collections along with the Architecture Collection. The stage designs by Ľudovít Fulla, which are among the most significant works of this collection, were acquired by the SNG partially from the estate donated by the artist. The gallery acquired the second part through purchases. This collection is a representative selection of Fulla’s stage design from the inter-war period. Fulla set the basics of modern stage design in Slovakia in designs for productions such as Búrka /The Storm (1932), Spievajúce Benátky / Singing Venice (1933) and Zmúdrenie Dona Quijota / Don Quixote Growing Wise(1932). A selection of the work of Ladislav Vychodil, the key figure of the post war development of stage design, is the second most representative collection. It contains his most significant implementations. Through his works such as Zlodejka z mesta Londýna / The Thief of London (1962) and Hra o láske a smrti / The Game of Love and Death (1964) Vychodil entered the records of the history of the world stage design. Martin Brezina, Ladislav Šestina and Daniel Gálik, whose work formed the stage design in the 1950s and 1960s, are also represented in the collection. The tendencies of artistically accented stage design are represented in this collection by the works of Ján Hanák, Pavol M. Gábor, Oto Šujan and Vladimír Suchánek. The opinion position oscillating in the area of action stage design is represented by the designs of Štefan Hudák, Jozef Ciller, Ján Zavarský, Mony Hafsahl and Milan Ferenčík. Costume design is represented by a selection from the works of the three most renowned Slovak costume designers: Ľudmila Purkyňová, Stanislava Vaníčková and Helena Bezáková, to which costume designer Milan Čorba also belongs. Television stage design is represented by the works of one of the founders of this specialization in Slovakia - Ladislav Hupka and puppet stage design is represented by Hana Cigánová. The designs by Peter Čanecký, Aleš Votava, Miloš Karásek and Alexandra Grusková are here for the youngest generation which started going to theatres in the 1980s and 1990s. The stage and costume designs of the legendary Alexandra Exter, who was one of the most significant members of the Russian interwar avant-garde, as well as the designs of her Kiev colleague, Anatol Petritzky, are the last unique acquisitions in the Stage Design Collection. Jozef Ciller and Peter Čanecký donated their works to this collection.

Curator of the Stage Design Collection: Viera Kleinová