The Square of Hope is now Ján Máthé Square

Art in an open space: that is probably one of the best-known characteristics of the excellent sculptor from Košice who passed away six months ago, just before his ninetieth birthday.

Today, an honour is being paid to the artist and local Košice patriot in his home town by a square being forever linked to his name. The Squareof Hopeis now called Ján Máthé Square. “Ján Máthé is part of the life of every one of us. His works have accompanied us from childhood, even on our way to work. Art in an open space is what many cities can envy us. Let us be thankful that we were able to have such an artist in the city. He was, he is and he will always be a part of Košice” remarked the mayor, Richard Raši.

It is the Squareof Hopein particular, now called Ján Máthe Square, which is symbolically linked with his work for many people. It is dominated by a monumental sculpture, Resting Family, which he made in 1965. “I would like to thank the mayor of the city of Košice, Richard Raši, the mayor of the Sever city district, Marián Gaja and city councillors for honouring his work in such a way. His work is a message of ethics and humanity” says the wife of the sculptor, Eva Máthéová.

The artistic director of EHMK 2013, n.o. Vladimír Beskid added, “A striking personality such as Ján Máthe deserves to have his own museum in the future.”

Ján Máthé:

Ján Máthé is one of Slovakia’s most distinctive sculptors. He was born on June 14,1922, inKošice. From 1945 to 1950, he studied at theAcademyofFine ArtinPragueunder Otakar Španiel.

After February 1948, since he did not identify with materialistic philosophy and he remained in contact inPraguewith leading personalities of the Catholic-orientated academic elite, he was threatened with persecution which he avoided by returning to Košice. He continued his work here, although he intentionally avoided taking part in “monument projects” celebrating the Communist regimes. For this reason, he was unfairly excluded from the official world of Slovak sculpture. Only works that were politically engaged had any value in society, but even during this period of the Socialist Realist devaluation of artistic creativity, Máthé resisted the outside pressure and followed his own creative programme without compromising his artistic attitude. He developed realistic and later stylised statues into abstract forms which were motivated by the birth of life, pain and hope as the main artistic message.

At the end of the 1960s, a car accident interrupted Ján Máthé’s artistic work, although at the beginning of the 1970s – as if resurrected – he worked on further sculptures and statues with his new artistic view. It was at this time that he created several grandiose works which were placed among the dismal blocks of housing estates thanks to the generosity of the approval committees. Ján Máthé passed away on June 5, 2012.