JAN HALA

1890-1959

Jan Hala was born on January 19, 1890, in Blatna, Southern Bohemia, as the second of six children of the local baker Jan Hala. As a child he has shown an interest in creative art and national history. After his graduation he went to study in Prague at the Academy of Fine Arts. Initially his artistic interest was focused on landscape motifs surrounding the town of Blatna. After finishing his studies at the Academy in Prague, he started to pursue figural painting alongside landscapes.

In 1923 during his travels through Slovakia he visited Vazec for the first time. Vazec is a small Upper Liptov region village, located directly south of mount Krivan in the beautiful High Tatra mountains.

He felt in love with Vazec, on beautiful Sunday, July 6, 1923, when he and his friend stopped in the center of the village. The church bells were ringing, women, girls, men, young and old were coming out of the church. "Everything was breathing at me with such warmth-the shingle roofs, beautiful colorful folk dresses, the mounts of Tatra's and people under them...As if the warmth of home was breathing at me."

He was taken by the beauty of the area, but most of all, by its people and their way of life. This village was different from others, mainly by keeping unbroken proofs of material culture. He also found a civilization and untouched forms of people’s relations. People that lived in harmony and respect with nature. From the first moment he realized that he has an excellent opportunity to capture artistically the life and work of the people of Vazec, where the old law of bond between the man and nature, respect towards traditions and also the unbroken union of life's rhythm, is given by the surrounding nature.

Vazec was very popular and frequented by many painters before, but no one created such works of art, capturing not only the beauty of nature, folk architecture, folk costumes, but also the life's philosophy, honor, the fight for every day's bread, as Hala.

He realized from the early beginning that to understand Vazec, means knowing everything that is alive under the surface of the land and things, what moves and condition's thinking and actions of its people and what does give the true fulfillment of their life. He studied the life of the people of Vazec, recorded their customs, people's tales, songs. He published part of his collection in illustrated stories in "The Peoples news" in years’ 1923-28 and in 1928 he published them in a book called "Village under Tatras," illustrated by him too.

On July 17, 1931, Vazec was destroyed and pretty well leveled to the ground by huge fire. That day, almost 500 houses were turned into ashes. Very few houses, such as Hala's own log house were saved. The disaster didn't destroy only the houses, but also all the treasures of folk culture and heritage protected for tens and hundreds of years and generations, that were the bearers of the message of passed generations long gone.

This tragedy has marked Hala with deep wounds that never healed. Vazec was rebuilt, but it carried in itself changes conditioned by the emerging civilization, changes not only in architecture, but also it the life and behavior and the people’s outlook at life.

Hala was therefore often returning in his paintings back to the old Vazec to remind every one of the values that were slowly, but on ever increasing scale disappearing.

Hala lived in Vazec practically all his life. He passed away after illness on May 17, 1959, in Vazec, in the village to whom he dedicated his whole heart, his human and artistic ideals.

First time I learned about this great artist from my friend Miroslav Kapasný who grew up in Vazec, during folk festival at Vychodna in 1988. I went to the museum located in the village and I was taken by the beauty of his paintings. Jan Hala is a hero in Vazec, for he was a Czech that felt in love with Vazec and it’s people. Through his paintings he introduced the village and its beautiful people to the World. The people of Vazec will always be thankful to him. In 1990, the 100 anniversary of his birth, the people of Vazec had a program at the festival in Vychodna called "Painted Life, Painted World" dedicated to Jan Hala. This was one of most memorable programs in my four years of attending the festival. This Summer 1994, my last Saturday, prior to my Monday departure to Canada I went to Vazec again. They were having their own small festival in an open air theater located above the village with the High Tatra mountains and Mount Krivan as a back drop for the stage. It was unbelievable. Prior to the start of the festival I visited Hala's museum again and this time I also visited his log house with the original furnishings located behind his new house. In the basement the people of Vazec installed a first literary village museum in Slovakia.

The bond of the people of Vazec and the town of Blatna where Hala was born was evident at the festival with official delegation of the town, headed by the Mayor Mrs. Blanka Malinova.

The festival continued at the Skanzen in Pribylina on Sunday, where I met the official delegation from Blatna again and since there wasn't official guide available, they were given a pretty good lecture by myself as I am familiar with the museum objects and the artifacts. Remember I was given an excellent lecture by the director of the museum Jiri Pribyl, last summer and later on I published an article about Pribylina in Winter 1993.

Many visitors apart from the official delegation ended following us and listened to my detailed lecture at many of the museum's restored houses and explanation of the different artifacts, tools and kitchen utensils. At one point I was asked by a group of visitors whether I work for the museum. They were very surprised and couldn't believe it when they learned that I am just a visitor from Canada.

That really felt good.

Bibliography of Jan Hala in Slovak, German and English with 8 color lithographs is available for US$20.00

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Bibliography: Jan Hala, Vyber z diela 1890-1959, Osveta, Martin 1982

Published in the Slovak Heritage Live newsletter Volume 2, No. 4, Winter 1994
Copyright © Vladimir Linder 1994 
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The above article and photographs may not be copied, reproduced, republished, or redistributed by any means including electronic, without the express written permission of Vladimir Linder. All rights reserved.