Martin Benka (21 September 1888 in Kostolište – 28 June 1971 in Malacky) was a Slovakian painter,

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

, art teacher and

Esperantist An Esperantist () is a person who speaks, reads or writes Esperanto. According to the Declaration of Boulogne, a document agreed upon at the first World Esperanto Congress in 1905, an Esperantist is someone who speaks Esperanto and uses it for ...

. He is generally considered to be the founder of

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

20th century Slovak painting.

Biography

He was the youngest of six children born to Jozef and Eva Benka, née Dubničkova.Biography
@ ''Stary Martin'' From 1903 to 1906, he was apprenticed as a house painter in Hodonín, and served his journeyman years in Vienna from 1906 to 1909. During this time, he began paying visits to a private art studio. A journalist named Jan Josef Langner (1861-1919) saw his work and was sufficiently impressed to offer financial assistance. This enabled him to take lessons at a private landscape painting school in Prague, operated by Alois Kalvoda.Biography
@ the Galéria Nedbalka He acquired his first studio in Prague in 1914. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he lived with a friend in Miloňovice. His first independent exhibit was held in

Rohatec Rohatec is a municipality and village in Hodonín District in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,500 inhabitants. Geography Rohatec is located about northeast of Hodonín and southeast of Brno, on the border with Slo ...

in 1915. After the war, he returned to Prague, where he lived until 1939. He became involved with the in 1920, and travelled extensively. In 1937, he participated in the

Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne The ''Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne'' (International Exposition of Art and Technology in Modern Life) was held from 25 May to 25 November 1937 in Paris, France. Both the Palais de Chaillot, housing the Mu ...

. Shortly after the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he settled in

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

. From 1940 to 1941, he was a Professor of drawing and painting at the

Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (STU) () is the biggest and oldest university of technology in Slovakia. In the 2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities it was ranked in the first 150 in Computer Science, the only university in ...

. After the war he received the title "" from the Czechoslovak People's Republic. In 1958, he was provided with a country home, studio and gallery near Martin, at state expense. That same year his autobiography, ''Za umením'' (For Art), was published. While visiting old friends in his home town, he fell ill and died at the hospital in Malacky. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Martin.

Style and method

Benka's ornamental style, which was influenced by

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...

, contrasted sharply with the functional and purist approach of the German

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

and

Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...

movements of that time. A contemporary of the famous Czech generation of cubist artists, he lived in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

for 30 years. Along with Ľudovít Fulla,

Mikuláš Galanda Mikuláš Galanda (4 May 1895 – 5 June 1938) was a painter and illustrator who was one of the most important pioneers and propagators of Slovak modern art. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Martin. Birth and education He was born in ...

, and the Czech , he created

Slovak

typography Typography is the art and technique of Typesetting, arranging type to make written language legibility, legible, readability, readable and beauty, appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, Point (typogra ...

. Overall, he created between forty and sixty different fonts. While searching for characteristic features,

form Form is the shape, visual appearance, or configuration of an object. In a wider sense, the form is the way something happens. Form may also refer to: *Form (document), a document (printed or electronic) with spaces in which to write or enter dat ...

s and colors of Slovakia, he would visit regions where people lived simply, in communion with nature. He would often travel around the countryside, documenting rural life and nature in his works, many of which he did outdoors and spontaneously. His home in the country, where he lived from 1959 to 1971, is now ''The Martin Benka Museum''"Martin Benka: Captivated by Nature"
@ the '' Slovak Spectator'' as outlined in his will, in which he bequeathed his works to the state. Bratislava Snopek Ladislav plastika Martin Benka

Bratislava Snopek Ladislav plastika Martin Benka

Notable paintings

*''Rieka Orava'' (''The Orava River'') *''Jeseň na Spiši'' (''Fall in Spiš'') *''Dve ženy'' (''Two women'')
''Na pole''
(''Into the Field'') *''Drevári pod Ďumbierom'' (''Woodcutters below Ďumbier Mountain'')
''Po búrke''
(''After the storm'')

References

External links

Collection of works by Benka
@ Webumania {{DEFAULTSORT:Benka, Martin 1888 births 1971 deaths People from Malacky District 20th-century Slovak painters Slovak modern painters Burials at National Cemetery in Martin 20th-century Slovak illustrators Slovak art educators

Biography

Style and method

Notable paintings

References

Further reading

External links