The Life and Career of Štefan Makara

Štefan Makara enters the world on October 10, 1925, in Ložín. He is born into a family of a potter, a lineage rooted in the tactile manipulation of earth and form. His path eventually shifts from the clay of his upbringing toward the canvas and the written word. After a brief period working as a teacher, he pursues formal artistic training, spending two years studying at the VŠVU.

The 1960s bring a shift in his professional identity. He becomes a central figure in the creative group Roveň, alongside other artists from Košice and Prešov. This period marks a departure from the objective reality of the landscape. He begins to reduce forms, focusing on the proportional relationships of geometric shapes and the architectural motifs of the lowlands. His work during these years moves away from traditional representation toward a more structured, distilled vision of the world.

His career is defined by a constant oscillation between the studio and the press. Štefan Makara is a man of many roles: painter, director, editor, publicist, and writer. He navigates the complexities of the media landscape while maintaining a presence in the visual arts. This dual existence allows him to observe the Zemplín region through both a lens of social commentary and a painterly eye, capturing the essence of rural life and urban civilization alike.

Artistic Style and Technique

The 1960s mark a decisive shift in his approach to form. He moves away from literal representation, focusing instead on compositions that reduce the basic elements of reality. His brushwork begins to explore the proportional relationships of geometric shapes, stripping the world down to its structural essence. This period sees him navigating the tension between the organic and the mathematical, often utilizing motifs of the lowlands and the specific architectural silhouettes of Zemplín. Even as he engages with the structures of urban civilization, a sense of order remains central to his vision.

By the 1970s, the rigid geometry yields to a different energy. His work takes on a tendency toward action painting, where the movement of the hand becomes visible in the application of pigment. This era introduces a poetic-realist landscape view, a style that earned him the reputation of a poet of the Zemplín palette. He captures the essence of the countryside not through mere imitation, but through a lens that balances physical reality with a deeply personal, lyrical perspective. The landscape is no longer just a subject; it is a rhythmic arrangement of light and space.

Key Works and Artistic Themes

The landscape of the Zemplín region and the rhythms of rural life define the core of his visual output. In 1964, he captures a sense of personal history in Spomienka na detstvo. This focus on origin and place persists through his later years, culminating in the 1989 work Z rodného kraja. His brush often seeks to translate the atmosphere of the natural world, moving from the specificities of a landscape to the shifting moods of the weather. In 1971, he painted Spišská krajina, and by 1975, the focus shifts to the immediate aftermath of a storm in Po daždi.

Movement and seasonal change act as structural pillars in his compositions. The passage of time is felt in the transition from the light of Leto II. in 1982 to the cooling tones of Jeseň na Šírave in 1984. Even a simple path becomes a subject of study, as seen in the 1979 painting Cesta. His work often balances the physical reality of the Slovak countryside with a poetic, internal perspective, attempting to reveal the beauty found in a dusty road or a field of ripening grain.

Professional Activities and Roles

Makara’s life operates through a constant oscillation between the brush and the printed word. He does not settle into a single vocation, moving instead between the roles of painter, editor, and publicist. His professional trajectory takes him through the offices of newspapers and the studios of radio, eventually leading to a tenure in television. This multifaceted career allows him to engage with the cultural landscape of Košice from multiple angles, acting as both a creator of images and a communicator of information.

The administrative side of his life is equally active. He serves as the secretary for the Slovak Union of Fine Arts in Košice, a position that places him at the center of the regional artistic community. This organizational involvement coincides with his efforts to reconnect painters with the landscape. In 1974, he initiates a return to working in nature by organizing a plein air session, a move that shifts the focus back to the direct observation of the environment.

Later Years and Death

The final chapter of Štefan Makara's life remains deeply rooted in the Košice region, the landscape that informed much of his visual language. Even as his career spanned various roles, his presence in the local cultural sphere remained constant. He continued to navigate the intersection of his diverse professional identities, maintaining a connection to the territory he so often depicted on canvas.

His creative output during these years included works that reflected his long-standing interest in the local environment. Notable pieces from his later period include:

• From the Native Region (1989)
• Vojany (1987)
• From Yugoslavia (1985)
• Kyjov Rocks (1985)

The momentum of his life slowed in the early 2000s. He passed away on February 16, 2005, in Košice. He was 79 years old at the time of his death. His legacy persists through the collections of regional galleries that hold the remnants of his prolific career as a painter and monumentalist.

Where to See His Works Today

The physical legacy of Štefan Makara remains anchored in the institutional collections of Eastern Slovakia. The Východoslovenská Galéria in Košice serves as a primary repository for his output, housing a significant number of his paintings. Visitors seeking to observe his visual language will find much of his work preserved within this specific gallery's holdings.

Beyond Košice, the Šariš Gallery in Prešov maintains a dedicated presence of his art. This collection includes four of his works, providing a secondary focal point for his aesthetic development. These pieces, held in both Košice and Prešov, represent the institutional recognition of his contribution to the regional landscape and the evolution of his painterly style.