Grand Prix de l' Exposition WIPA, 1998, Vienna
( 3rd place )

Predominantly a painter and illustrator, Martin Benka (1888-1971) was one of the founders of modern Slovak art in the first half of the 20th century and was of a stature which the title National Artist merely confirmed. In what was an extensive and exceptionally important oeuvre he offered a candid avowal of his love, reverence and awe for Slovakia, its land and its people. It was not only the landscape as such that inspired him, however, but also the formal and tonal beauty of folk culture and the creative power of its manifestations and drew inspiration from both landscape and figural motifs. His work is the apotheosis of the Slovak land and its people and even during the artist's lifetime made a marked contribution to the identity of Slovakia, the homeland to which he readily devoted his whole life and work.

Terchova Landscape, the painting reproduced on the present stamp, was awarded the Silver Medal at the Paris world fair of 1937 in recognition of the distinctive contribution of Slovak art modern European painting as a whole.

Mgr. Anna Oláhová