Immerse yourself in an artistic experience and discover more about the unique message conveyed by artists from Košice. Head into the city, where you’ll be treated to a display of magnificent works of art at every turn during a leisurely stroll through the city centre and its neighbourhoods. This coming season, we recommend you get to know the Košice sculptor Ján Mathé better, who has left an indelible mark and a distinctive artistic style on the city.

The life and work of an immortal artist

The first academically trained sculptor from the eastern Slovak region was born and spent his childhood on the grounds of the former State Hospital in Košice. From a very young age, he spent his time sketching the human form in the dissection theatre, which later laid the foundations for his concrete and abstract drawings and forms. After serving in the war in Ukraine, he studied sculpture under Professor Otakar Španiel at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. Španiel was instrumental in forging numerous artistic connections, with whom Mathé remained in contact after his studies and which, in later life, also brought him many commissions for works of art in the emerging socialist housing estates.

A spiritually and morally grounded artist, he refused throughout his life to fully submit to the doctrines of the communist regime. His legacy lies to this day in his masterful treatment of themes such as conception, the origin of life, love, joy, offspring, introspection and the celebration of existence, in his immortal, often outdoor works in metal, bronze and wood, and the installation of these works in the housing estates of Košice and other Slovak towns.

Visit the artist’s private studio in his home

Today, you can get up close and personal with the artist’s work right in his home – the famous Bauhaus-style house on Horolezecká Street in Košice, which has been the centre of attention and admiration for passers-by and the artist’s fans alike for decades. The house, situated in the northern part of the city, close to the Čermeľ nature reserve, is now a national cultural monument, donated to the city by the sculptor’s wife, Mrs Eva Mathéová.