2021 Parish Ministry Conference: With Burning Hearts

About the Artist

Ladislav Záborský- Slovak Academic Painterimage of Ladislav Zaborsky
Born January 22, 1921 in Tisovec – Died December 31, 2016 in Martin

“Ladislav Záborský was born in 1921 in Tisovec, he studied at grammar school in Banska Bystrica, where his talent was discovered by professor Krakora. Later, Ladislav studied at Drawing and Painting Department of the Slovak Technical Univesity with professors like Benka, Mally, and Mudroch. At the same time, he regularly attended the Faculty of Arts (pedagogy, psychology and art history) and the Faculty of Science (descriptive department) in Bratislava. He attended lectures on anatomy and pedagogy regularly. He got his first award in his 21 in Florence at a pan-European competition for young artists.

After his studies, he worked as a graphic designer in Neografia in Martin in 1944-1945. He worked as a professor of drawing at the Grammar School in Martin, too.

From 1953 to 1957 Ladislav was persecuted by the communist regime, condemned and imprisoned for his religious activities related to his beliefs and attitudes, which he remained faithful to the end of his life.” 1

“He experienced interrogation, intimidation, demanding prison conditions and threatening, too. He spent five months in solitary confinement where he wrote thirty poems depicting his feelings and talks to God. It is a kind of his chronicle from prison. After serving a half of his sentence, he was paroled. Every event that had touched him somehow later appeared in his work. He has always believed in God, so his work was often influenced by the gospel.


“God has saved me many times. He was really merciful to me. He turned all my difficulties, illnesses, even my imprisonment into great spiritual values. He is able to turn human muck into spiritual treasure.” 4


In 1958 he created one of his most famous paintings called “Snímanie Krista z kríža” (Descent from the Cross) which symbolized his coming back from the “cross”, actually from prison. However, when he was finally released, he was affected by the consequences of persecution; he wasn’t able to get involved in society and his employment opportunities were minimal, thus he illustrated books for children and applied his mind to landscape painting. During the period of normalization he decorated 25 churches with the Stations of the Cross. Between years 1968 and 1969 he lived in France with his family and studied sacral art - architecture and interior decoration of churches. His mission in life is to spread joy, Christian optimism and religious belief in eternal life. Thus his work belongs to that kind of art which has its profundity and carries certain message.3

"In 1968-69 Ladislav and his family stayed in France, where he was studying sacral art and temple interiors. In this period, he traveled all over Europe and studied modern sacral architecture and art decoration. He was a book illustrator, painter and church artist. Ladislav and his wife Gabriela (née Bartosova), who stood faithfully all his life beside him, had three children: Vladimir, Terezia, and Mary."1

“The essence of his work is linked to the experience of his inner life. Each painting is an attempt to discover God and a dialogue with eternity. He is more than a religious painter; he is a painter of spiritual light. He says about himself: "The substance of my work is the experience of God transferred into my heart (...) Art that seeks truth and beauty, is the anticipation of eternity." He sees the weakness of abstract art in the absence of truth in beauty.”2

“The light was the central theme of Ladislav's artistic work. Not only the light that floods the landscape, or the light that is hidden in the soul of a man, but the Light that is interlaced in every man's life journey. The work of Master Záborský brings the peace into your soul.

The works of academic painter Ladislav Záborský are displayed in art collections in Slovakia, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, Palestine, and the USA.

He was awarded the Gold Medal of the Slovak Christian Intelligence Center (1993) for his artistic work. In 2006 he was awarded the Medal of the town of Martin. The Council of the Conference of Bishops of Slovakia for Science, Education and Culture awarded him the Fra Angelica 2005 prize.

During Communism, he secretly created more than 30 Stations of the Cross in various techniques (paintings, stained glass, wood engravings) and decorated 25 churches with stained glass windows. He is the author of murals in churches in Slovakia and Paris.”1

Painting called Emmaus by Ladislav Zaborsky
Theme image title: Emmaus
"As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him." (Luke 24:28-31)

 

References:

  1. https://www.artforchristian.com/en/zaborsky/
  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ladislav_Z%C3%A1borsk%C3%BD
  3. https://www.memoryofnations.eu/en/zaborsky-ladislav-1921
  4. https://www.upn.gov.sk/en/ladislav-zaborsky-1921/
  5. https://www.artforchristian.com/p/emmaus/