Ernest Zmeták has left us a large portfolio of works out of which we have selected a woodcut print titled Potato Harvest for the Agronauts selection. It is a single print from a limited edition. The print shows a woman working on the field, picking potatoes from a furrow. There is a hoe lying next to her feet, a good tool for manual work. She is throwing the harvested potatoes into a basket in front of her. The working woman is a predominant feature of this Zmeták’s print. The agricultural motif depicts a traditional image of working class people while being outdoor. Once again, this print underlines Zmeták’s printmaking capabilities with its heavily stylised elements.
Ernest Zmeták was born 12 January 1919 in Nové Zámky. During 1936 -1937 he studied at the painting school of K. Harmos in Komárno. In 1938 he was admitted to Prague’s Academy of Fine Arts to the studio of prof. Willi Nowak where he eventually did not study. Between 1938-1943 he studied at a studio under prof. V. Aba-Novák, B. Kontuly and I. Szőnyi at the Hungarian University of Fine Arts in Budapest. After he finished his studies he lived in Bratislava.
He was a member of the 29 August Artists Group, the initiator and founding member of the Fellowship of Artists and Friends of Art. Since 1947 he frequently visited Italy, Sicily, France. Since 1952 he was a freelance artist (between 1949-1952 he worked as an assistant of Ľ.Fulla at AFAD). In 1958 at XXIX. Biennale di Venezia he was awarded by Instituto internazionale di arte liturgica for his graphic Escape to Egypt. He was also awarded several national awards and prizes. His work is influenced by his teacher V. Aba-Novák – his interest in the renaissance luminism, painting compositions, expressiveness.
He had thirteen internships in Italy between 1947-1985. Ernest Zmeták was also a legal expert and a passionate collector of art. He and his wife Danica Zmetáková presented the state with a donation that became the central part of the art collection at Ernest Zmeták’s Gallery of Arts in Nové Zámky. The gallery was created thanks to this donation. The artist died 13 May 2004 in Bratislava.
— Ľudmila Kasaj Poláčková
Sources
ABÉLOVSKÝ, Ján – BAJCUROVÁ, Katarína – BARCZI, Július: Posledný klasik Ernest Zmeták: zberateľ a umelec [The Last Classical Artist Ernest Zmeták: Collector and Artist,], SNG, Bratislava, 2011
Inventory No.: G 259
Artist: Ernest Zmeták
Title: Potato Harvest
Year of origin: 1963
Technique: woodcut
Material: paper
Dimensions: height 34 cm, width 41,5 cm
Signature: mirror image, bottom right Z 1963, under the print: 13/25 1963; Ernest Zmeták