Botanical Watercolour - Yellow 'Mermaid' Climbing Rose Signed by Czechoslovakian / Canadian Artist Marta Brestovansky (1937-1999) - Cream Mat (moisture marks) under Gold Tone Metal Frame - 16.25" W x 20.25" H
Marta Brestovansky (1937-1999)
Marta (née Jasai) was born on December 29th, 1937 – Košice, former Czechoslovakia. By heritage she was a Slovak with Hungarian, Romanian and Germanic ancestry. As a very young girl, Marta’s first artistic works were decorating the coffins of unknown soldiers. Accompanying her grandmother, during the height of World War II, Marta painted symbols of everlasting peace: doves, flowers, and crosses, on these wooden boxes.
At 14 she entered the College of Fine Arts in Bratislava. Because of her young age she was granted admittance by special permission due to the merit of her portfolio. There she met her life-mate Aloiz Brestovansky a student of opera. After graduation she went on to have a successful career as a graphic designer for the state-owned department store Prior. That all changed in 1968, due to the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.
Taking the opportunity of a leave already granted to Italy, she and her husband jumped out of a train as it passed through Austria. They were granted status as political refugees and came to Canada. On December 3, 1968 they settled in the only familiar choice in an unfamiliar country. Marta had read the translations of Orillian humorist Stephen Leacock in Slovakia and when asked by officials in Canada where the couple would like to be located, Marta, wanting to seem knowledgeable in this completely new territory decidedly selected, Orillia - Ontario. There in her new home, and small town, she continued her professional career while advancing the careers and joy of others as she taught art part-time at both Georgian College in Orillia and Sir Sanford Fleming in Lindsay.
Proficient in a myriad of techniques not only out of necessity as an educator, but out of her love for expression, Marta’s work has no classification. Portraits, landscapes, fantasy, graphic all compose her oeuvre. There was not a spare moment in which she was not creating, and that resulted in the output of thousands of pieces. Yet despite this cacophony of style and subject there is retained an unquestioned sense of her presence. A gentle touch of a graphic nature always echoes within Marta’s work. Despite having grown up during the war, there is always a sentiment of peace and hope. It is this unique, uplifting, graphic line, combined with an artist's strength in color that can characterize her style.
Marta has exhibited throughout Canada, the United States of America, Europe, and Japan. In 1990 she had the distinct honour of presenting then President of Czechoslovakia Václav Havel, one of her paintings during his first visit to Canada.
Despite her many accolades, she used her work to give. She donated to the community of Orillia, the community of Canadian-Slovaks, Amnesty International, the Greek Catholic and Roman Catholic Church and many other causes throughout her life.
In 1999 she passed with her husband by her side with the clarity of thought that “Heaven needed an art teacher.”
| Automatic Markdowns |
| Oct 21, 2020 | $220.15 |
| Nov 20, 2020 | $194.25 |
| Dec 20, 2020 | $168.35 |
$ 259.00 (sold)
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