Albín Brunovský

A master of imaginative realism and the most honoured Slovak printmaker of his generation. Born in Zohor, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava under Vincent Hložník (1955 – 1961); from 1966 to 1990 he headed its department of book design there and raised the so-called Brunovský school — his pupils designed the last series of Slovak koruna banknotes, he himself the last series of Czechoslovak ones. In 1989 he became rector of the Academy.

Minute drawing, fantastic worlds and a brilliant command of the classical printmaking techniques brought him the Herder Prize (1969), the Grand Prix at the Kraków Print Biennial (1980), the Golden Apple of the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava — which he co-founded in 1967 — and the title of National Artist (1985). He illustrated Andersen, Hoffmann, Cervantes and Dobšinský's Slovak Folk Tales, for which he received the State Prize (1989).