Lot 177

Milan Paštéka (1931 - 1998) AT THE TABLE

Paštéka always intensively noticed the difference between the subject that is seen and accounts of it. His figurative work experienced a fundamental shift in the 1970s: The figures entirely lose dynamics, becoming static observers, waiting, silent when meeting others, sometimes entirely ignoring one another. The woman in the center of the image is recognizable from a painting from 1978. She is exposed, but partially concealed, not divulging any secrets; completely distancing herself from the conversation at the table, she looks straight ahead at the observer, who is entering the room through an open door. Paštéka subjects his themes to ever newer tests, questioning social themes, repeatedly placing the protagonists of his paintings in closed rooms and forcing them to coexist. Paštéka’s oeuvre is among the very best that Slovak painting has to offer. He was a supporter of rebel artist Mikuláš Galanda and spurned utopian visions. He did not want art to become a servant of ideology, and he was resolved to uphold the freedom of artistic expression.