Ján Mudroch – Drawings

– Born 28 March 1909, Sotina (district of Senica at present),
– The eldest of seven siblings, four boys and three girls,
– His father Pavol Mudroch, originally a furrier, wanted his eldest son to become a clerk.  
– The first contact with fine art at Gustáv Mallý’s private school of painting in Bratislava in 1926,
– 1930 – 1931 studied at his expense at the School of Applied Arts in Prague with Professor Arnošt Hofbauer, without his parent’s financial support,
– 1931 – 1937 studied at the Academy of Fine Arts with Professor Willy Nowak,
– 1932 married Helena Hajdušíková,
– After graduation, he returned to Slovakia and lived in Šurany, where his family moved and his wife was teaching.
– After the occupation of Šurany in 1938 he settled in Bratislava, teaching at different art schools.
– 1938 taught at the School of Arts and Crafts in Bratislava
– 1939 began teaching at the newly opened Department of Drawing and Painting of the Slovak University of Technology; two years later (1941) he was compelled to leave this post due to his progressive and anti-fascist stance. His students – later outstanding painters – O. Dubay, V. Chmel, E. Semian, J. Šturdík, J. Novák left the academy in protest.
– When the front moved westwards in 1945, he settled in Senica, where several of his paintings were unfortunately destroyed during the bombardment,
– After the war he was involved in numerous social, cultural and organisational activities: participated in the foundation of the art association 29 August Group (1945), organised exhibitions, initiated the journal Kultúrny život, became the chairman of the art society Umelecká beseda slovenská (1947), prepared the foundation of the Slovak National Gallery (1948) and the Slovak Philharmonic (1949),
– 1949 became one of the founders of the newly founded Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava and its first rector (1949 – 1952),
– Until 1968 he chaired the Department of Portrait and Composition Painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava.
– He last visited Senica in the company of his wife Helena in 1966, two years before his death.
– He died in Bratislava on 4 February 1968 after a short illness and is buried there.

Ján Mudroch was one of the most prominent figures of the generation of artists called Generation 1909 after the year of his birth. His work is characterised by a never-ending struggle to explore a new form, a fresh contemporary view on painting, which benefits above all from the play of colour and light, from the principles of colour and in the overall concept from a distinctive poetic expression. He received several awards, was awarded the title of meritorious artist in 1963 and was named National Artist in memoriam in 1968.