Peter Uchnár: Slovak Republic Illustrator

I think that the illustrator would decide to read the text for more than knowing only the approximate content.

Peter Uchnár

Peter Uchnár was born in Sobrance, Slovakia in 1970. He first studied at the High School of Applied Arts, Košice, and then transferred to Bratislava's Academy of Fine Arts, Department of Printmaking, under the direction of Dušan Kállay. From1999 to 2002 he worked as a teacher at the Academy of Fine Arts. Currently he lives and works in Pezinok, Slovakia, where he is engaged in printmaking, painting, and book illustration.

His illustrations have been used in books, stamps, and the traveling international Cow Parade art exhibit. He is best known for his meticulous illustrations of European myths and legends. Uchnár's imaginative paintings and graphics are delicately drawn with an emphasis on the tiniest of details, using the technique of creating miniatures made with fine paintbrushes. His muted pastels with softened contours beautifully complement the mystical legends of the past. His art conveys the changing moods of the writer's story, guiding newer readers in understanding the depth of the story being told, yet there is an openness to interpretation which also appeals to the more mature reader.

In the center of the pictures, there is always a monstrous object; and then there are minute characters inconspicuously put into the object, as if the author were putting onomatopoeia into his images. Each of such "pieces" has its own face, its own character, as well as its special functionality. Each of them performs a certain role within the composition. The painter's virtuosity, the sense of detail and composition, the surrealistic dreaminess and fantasy, the emotional impact of deep colors – all of this is reflected in shimmering effects of light and shadow, in the depth of the perspective, and oftentimes in decorative undertones to the pictures, as in Vel'ká kniha slovenských rozprávok (The Great Book of Slovakian Fairy Tales). Uchnár's illustrations seem to have the mysteriousness of fairyland encoded in them; they show respect for the story and add grace to any spectacle.

Peter Uchnár's work has won many awards including multiple citations as "The Most Beautiful Book of Slovakia," the Golden Apple at the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava, and the International Golden Pen award, among others.