The two female portraits by Ervín Semian were created at the dawn of the artist’s life...

Inventory No.: O 307
Artist: Ervín Semian
Title: Marienka
Year: 1960 – 1965
Technique: oil
Material: canvas
Dimensions: 58,5 x 42,5 cm
Signature: none

Inventory No.: O 308
Artist: Ervín Semian
Title: Girl in a White Sweater
Year: 1960 – 1965
Technique: oil
Material: canvas
Dimensions: 58,5 x 42,5 cm
Signature: none

In the distance, an octopus of darkness awakens,
In the distance, a blue cloud of night arises,
In the distance, sallow morning tide glimmers quietly…
All the wandering solitudes –
A single spilled wound…
(Excerpt from the poem Blue Country by Ján Rak /
dedicated to Ervín Semian)
[unofficial translation]

The two female portraits by Ervín Semian were created at the dawn of the artist’s life. Each one of them depicts youth, determination, softness and loneliness of a woman using a very civil approach. One of the images portrays a girl /Marienka (O 307)/ sitting by the window with her dark stare set towards the unknown, while in the other one, there is a Girl in a White Sweater (O 308) staring directly at us. These images were created after the artist’s return to work, but with a much less lyrical language, focusing on the visuals. At the time, he worked mostly on figural studies, still lifes and urban vistas.

Ervín Semian has become a part of the history of Slovak painting as a painter of love desires and lyrical candour; his inspirations come from children’s painting style. He is also well-known for his illustrations – his most successful ones are for Sládkovič’s Marína and the works of J. A. Rimbaud. Inspired by the purity of childhood, he entered the art scene at the beginning of World War II. After the war, Semian leaves the world of seemingly naive imagination. He shifts his focus towards reality and political engagement. Between 1948 and 1953, his plans were interrupted by psychasthenia. After his recovery, his artistic language changed and he was no longer able to achieve the level of originality and imperativeness of his early poetics.

Ervín Semian (January 24, 1921 Devičie – December 21, 1965 Bratislava) studied at the Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava (1939 – 1943) under the leadership of M. Benka, G. Mallý, M. Schurmann, J. Mudroch. In 1945, he joined the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia and became one of the founding members of the 29th August Artists Group. From 1945 to 1946, he worked as an art editor for the Pravda [Truth] newspaper. Over the course of his career, he was able to go on several trips abroad which he also used to exhibit his works (e.g. Paris, 1946). Despite his short life, he managed to leave behind a significant volume of artworks.

Ľudmila Kasaj Poláčková
June 2020

Bibliography:
ILEČKOVÁ, Silvia:  Ervín Semian. Bratislava : Pallas, 1973.
ILEČKOVÁ, Silvia: Ervín Semian. Bratislava : Tatran, 1980.
POPELÁR, Roman: Jozef Srna. Bratislava : Vydavateľstvo Krása; Bratislava City Gallery, 2012.