Cyprián Majerník (24 November 1909, Veľké Kostoľany – 4 July 1945,

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

) was a Slovak painter who worked in Prague; associated with the "Generation of 1909".

Biography

He had his primary education in

Pezinok Pezinok (; hu, Bazin; german: Bösing; lat, Bazinium) is a town in southwestern Slovakia. It is roughly northeast of Bratislava and, as of December 2018, had a population of 23,002. Pezinok lies near the Little Carpathians and thrives mainly ...

then, in 1924, attended the secondary school in Košice, where he studied economics. After deciding on art as a career, he went to Bratislava to take private lessons from the

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

painter . After acquiring the basics, he enrolled at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Prague The Academy of Fine Arts, Prague ( cs, Akademie výtvarných umění v Praze; AVU) is an art college in Prague, Czech Republic. Founded in 1799, it is the oldest art college in the country. The school offers twelve master's degree programs and on ...

, where he studied under and Jakub Obrovský.Brief biography
@ Slovenské Dotyky. Upon graduation, he settled in Prague. In 1932, he took a brief trip to Paris, where he came under the influence of Marc Chagall and

Giorgio de Chirico Giuseppe Maria Alberto Giorgio de Chirico ( , ; 10 July 1888 – 20 November 1978) was an Italian artist and writer born in Greece. In the years before World War I, he founded the '' scuola metafisica'' art movement, which profoundly influ ...

. In Prague, he became part of a circle of painters that included , and . Although he centered his career there, he made numerous trips to Slovakia to visit his family and hold exhibitions. About this time, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Nevertheless, his work was energized by his opposition to

Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

. By 1942, this was virtually his only theme, as he protested the prison camps, death marches and other evils perpetrated by the Nazi régime. The figure of

Don Quixote is a Spanish epic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts, in 1605 and 1615, its full title is ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'' or, in Spanish, (changing in Part 2 to ). A founding work of West ...

was a recurring motif of continued resistance, despite overwhelming odds against success. Following the Soviet liberation of Prague in May, 1945, the

Umělecká beseda The Umělecká beseda was a Czech artists' forum, bringing together creative artists in literature, music and fine art. First founded in 1863, it formed an important part of Czech cultural life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Under Comm ...

(an artists' association) gave him a certificate of political reliability. At that time, he also married his long-time companion, Karla, and applied for an apartment permit. Not long after, he committed suicide by jumping from a window. It is unknown what the immediate cause may have been, but he had recently experienced short bouts of depression, related to the increasing difficulty involved in holding and manipulating brushes. A major retrospective was held the following year. In 1991, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk by President Vaclav Havel. A showing in honor of his 100th birthday was presented at

Mirbach Palace Mirbach Palace is a Baroque-Rococo building in the historical zone of Bratislava. The four-wing, two-story building, which ranks among the most beautiful and best-preserved architectural monuments of the mentioned style period in Slovakia, was named ...

in 2009. Two years later, in a controversial move, his space at

Vyšehrad cemetery Vyšehrad ( Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basil ...

was sold to , a businessman and sports club owner, and his remains were relocated to the

National Cemetery in Martin The National Cemetery ( sk, Národný cintorín) in Martin, Slovakia is the final resting place of many important personalities of Slovak history. The list includes writers, poets, national activists, pedagogues, etc. The reason why Martin was se ...

."Ze skandálního kšeftu s hroby na Vyšehradě je světová ostuda"
(The scandalous illegal deal with graves at Vyšehrad is the world's shame). Story by Ivan Motýl from ''

Týden ''Týden'' ( Czech: ''Week'') is a Czech weekly news magazine which focuses mainly on news and news analysis. It has been in circulation in 1994. History and profile ''Týden'' was founded in 1994 and soon became part of the Axel Springer AG me ...

''.

Selected paintings

Majernik-Samaritan.jpg, The

Good Samaritan In most contexts, the concept of good denotes the conduct that should be preferred when posed with a choice between possible actions. Good is generally considered to be the opposite of evil and is of interest in the study of ethics, morality, ph ...

Majernik-Clairvoyant.jpg, The

Clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the magical ability to gain information about an object, person, location, or physical event through extrasensory perception. Any person who is claimed to have such ability is said to be a clairvoyant () ("one who sees cl ...

Majernik-Singers.jpg, Singers Majernik-Prisoners.jpg, Prisoners

References

External links

More works by Majerník
@ Webumania
Cyprián Majerník Gallery
@ Muzeum.sk {{DEFAULTSORT:Majernik, Cyprian 1909 births 1945 suicides 20th-century Slovak painters Expressionist painters People with multiple sclerosis Recipients of the Order of Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk Artists who committed suicide People from Piešťany District Burials at National Cemetery in Martin Suicides by jumping in the Czech Republic Suicides in Czechoslovakia 1945 deaths

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links