Peter Uchnár

Peter Uchnár was born on the 11^th of August 1970 in the village of Sobrance. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava, the Department of Printmaking and Illustration headed by professor Dušan Kállay. After his graduation he worked for the Academy as a teacher. Recently he has been living and working in the town of Pezinok.

Peter Uchnár was awarded a Golden Apple for his illustrations for the book Gulliverove cesty (Gulliver's Travels) at the Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava 1999. Peter Uchnár represents the middle generation of Slovak illustrators and in particular the school of Albín Brunovský.  His illustrations have a similar mood and style, though he is not an imitator. The painterly bravura, sense for detail and composition, surrealist dreaminess and imagination and rich colour are all reflected in his play of light and shade, depth of perspective and often in decorative artfulness, e.g. in the book Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok (The Big Book of Slovak Fairy Tales). His illustrations are imbued with fairy-tale mystery, evoking the seriousness of the story and elegance of its image. Their silent message is achieved by splendid painterly gestures accompanied by insistent colourfulness, epic emphasis and lyrical mood, e.g. in the book Peter Pan. His magnificent, artistically outstanding and aesthetically impressive illustration is a reflection of artist's creative efforts, creative initiatives and imagination, as well as his uncompromising artistic determination. He uses combined techniques; subdued colours and soft contours are dominant. The artist proves in his illustrations how outstanding is his sense of poetics of painting, detail, stereoscopic vision and feeling for the character of the story, e.g. the book Gulliverove cesty (Gulliver's Travels).  has The artist, who received multiple awards, resonates extraordinarily presentably in the book  Traja hrdinovia (Three Heroes) by J.C. Hronský, where he builds on the painterly poetics of Brunovsky's school and extends it to imaginary surrealistic levels. Although he chooses prevailingly dark, cold tones, colouring is rich and radiant. Outstandingly presentable publication is Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok (The Big Book of Slovak Fairy Tales) with the artist's illustrations on high artistic level. All three above mentioned titles are presentable example of illustrations by Peter Uchnár, an important and unique representative of Slovak illustration school currently led by Professor Dušan Kállay at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. The artist's importance and impact and popularity is proved also by publishers' offers of grand projects demanding extraordinary responsibility, patience, professional skills and most of all a highly refined creative potential.

Author of the text: Mgr. Barbara Brathová, art historian

Beside illustration he focuses on painting, printmaking and stamp design.

Gulliverove cesty (J. Swift, Mladé letá 1967, 1981, Spolok slovenských spisovateľov 1998, Reader´s Digest Výber Slovensko 2008); Maľovaná abeceda (J. Smrek, Elán 1998); A zvony nezvonia (J. Hindický, Matica slovenska 1999); Prírodoveda pre 3. ročník základných škôl. Pracovný zošit (J. Kopáčová, Orbis Pictus Istropolitana 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009); Hnali sa veky nad hradbami (A. Marec, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2000); Kinder- und Hausmärchen (J. Grimm, Paroru-sha 2001); Kniha džunglí (R. Kipling, Petrus 2002); Druhá kniha džunglí (R. Kipling, Petrus 2002); Miško a jeho kamaráti (B. Lenčová; Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2003); Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok (Ľ. Feldek, Reader´s Digest Výber 2003); Čarodejnica z Petrovíc (Z. Kuglerová, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2004); Surprise, surprise (Fukuinkan Shoten 2004); Traja hrdinovia (J.Cíger Hronský, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2006, iAdverti 2014); Bodenburg – Jerremy (A. Sommer, Shogukan 2007); Modlitbičky (M. Rúfus, Mladé letá 2007, 2020); Baba Jaga (Reader´s Digest Výber Praha 2008, Bratislava 2009); Peter Pan (J. M. Barrie, Slovart 2008, 2015); Štyria škriatkovia a dobrá víla (J. Uličiansky, Perfekt 2009); Tri tragédie (W. Shakespear, Ikar 2009); Tisíc a jedna noc, 6. zväzok (Ikar 2010); Ako začať zbierať známky (Perfekt - Slovenská pošta 2010); Drevený zámoček : ruské ľudové rozprávky (Buvik 2010, 2015); Deoduši (J. Werich, Albatros 2010); Tonino, pieskový šaško (S. Nui, Perfekt 2010); Kryštofuv Vzdušný zámek (L. Kapianus, Albatros 2010); Soľ nad zlato (B. Němcová, Buvik 2011); Studnička (M. Rúfus, SPN - Mladé letá 2011, 2014); Bratia Levie srdce (A. Lindgrenová, Slovart 2011); Béowulf (R. Nye, Plus 2011); Rozprávky spod slovanskej lipy (P. Vrlík, Matica slovenská 2013, Slovart 2020); Slovenské povesti (M. Ďuríčková, Matica slovenská 2014, 2017); Truhlica najkrajších rozprávok (Ľ. Feldek, Tarsago Slovensko 2014, Tarsago Česká republika 2014); Bojnickí búbeli (K. Mikolášová, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2015); Turčianske povesti II (J. Tatár, Matica slovenská 2015); Spevavé rozprávky (Buvik 2015); Ako sa vám páči (W. Shakespeare, Ikar - Odeon 2016); Hamlet (W. Shakespeare,  Ikar - Odeon 2016); Kráľ Lear (W. Shakespeare, Ikar - Odeon 2016); Macbeth (W. Shakespeare, Ikar - Odeon 2016); Othello (W. Shakespeare, Ikar - Odeon 2016); Romeo a Júlia (W. ShakespeareIkar - Odeon 2016); Sen svätojánskej noci (W. Shakespeare, Ikar - Odeon 2016); Skrotenie čertice (W. Shakespeare, Ikar - Odeon 2016); Trojkráľový večer (W. Shakespeare, Ikar - Odeon 2016); Teta Agáta a jej mačacia sedmička (P. Karpinský, Perfekt 2017); Natálkine dobrodružstvá (S. Repaský, Albatros 2018); Koza rohatá a iné rozprávky (M. Rúfus, Perfekt 2018; O dvanástich mesiačikoch ( P. Karpinský, Perfekt 2019); Turecká studnička (O. Sliacky, Vydavateľstvo Matice slovenskej 2019)C Kapitán Spomienka : poviedky a básne pre deti a násťročných (Kolektív autorov, Perfekt 2019); Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok (Ľ. Feldek, Slovart 2020); Gulliverove cesty (J. Swift, Slovart 2023); Tisíc a jedna noc (Ikar, 2024).

Slovník českých a slovenských výtvarných umělců 1950 - 2007. XVIII. Tik - U. Ostrava : Výtvarné centrum Chagall, 2007, s. 305. ISBN 80-86171-28-9.

BRATHOVÁ, Barbara: Peter Uchnár. In Slovenská detská kniha. Zost. Ľubica Kepštová. Bratislava : Literárne informačné centrum, 2008, s. 128-133. ISBN 978-80-89222-57-5.

BRATHOVÁ, Barbara: Petrov Peter Pan [Katalóg]. Bratislava : BIBIANA, 2009. 16 s. ISBN 978-80-89154-23-4.
BRATHOVÁ, Barbara: Slovak United Imagi Nations. Bratislava : Literárne informačné centrum, 2009, s. 204-209. ISBN 978-80-89222-75-9.

Peter Uchnár - maľba, ilustrácia - grafika. Zost. Martin Vančo a Juraj Žembera. Banská Bystrica : Slovenská pošta, 2023. 157 s. ISBN 978-80-972322-6-9

KEPŠTOVÁ, Ľubica: Zlaté jablko na slovenskom strome. In Revue Bibiana. 1999, roč. 6,  č. 3-4, s. 67-69. Dostupné na internete:

http://www.bibiana.sk/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/digital_archive/rocnikvi_3-4_1999.pdf ISSN 1335-7263. 

VESELÝ, Marian: Cena Ľudvíta Fullu Petrovi Uchnárovi, alebo, Byť sám sebou. In Revue Bibiana. 2005, roč. 12,  č. 4, s. 57-58. Dostupné na internete: <http://www.bibiana.sk/sites/default/files/sites/default/files/digital_archive/rocnikxii_4_2005.pdf> ISSN 1335-7263. 

1999 Golden Apple BIB ’99 for illustrations of the book Gulliverove cesty 1 (Gulliver's Travels 1)

          Award of the Ministry of Culture of the SR for illustrations in the competition the Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 1998 for the book Gulliverove cesty 1
          The 40th International Golden Pen of Belgrade, the 5th International Biennial of Illustration 1998/99, Belgrade, Serbia 

2000 Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 1999 for the book A zvony nezvonia (And the Bells Have Stopped Ringing)

2001 Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2000 for the book Hnali sa veky nad hradbami (Ages Passed by under the City Walls)

2003 Most Beautiful Children's Book of the Autumn for the book Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok
2004 Award of the Ministry of Culture of the SR for illustrations in the competition the Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2003 for the book Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok (The Big Book of Slovak Fairy Tales)

2005 Ľudovít Fulla Award for illustrations for children and youth

2006 IBBY Honour List for the book Veľká kniha slovenských rozprávok
          Most Beautiful Children's Book of the Winter for the book Traja hrdinovia (Three Heroes)
2007 Most Beautiful Children's Book of the Winter for the book Peter Pan
2009 Award of the Ministry of Culture of the SR for illustrations in the competition the Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2008 for the book Peter Pan

          Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2008 for the book Gulliverove cesty

          Children’s Jury Prize BIB ’09 for the book Peter Pan

2010 Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2009 for the book Štyria škriatkovia a víla (Four Dwarfs and a Fairy)

2011 Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2010 for the books Drevený zámoček (The Little Wooden Castle) and Tonino, pieskový šaško (Tony, the Little Sand Clown)

          Most Beautiful Children's Book of the Autumn for the books Tonino, pieskový šaško and Ako začať zbierať známky (How to Start with Collecting Stamps)

2012 Most Beautiful Books of Slovakia 2011 for the books Soľ nad zlato and Studnička

2014 Most Baeautiful Books of Slovakia 2013 for the book Rozprávky spod slovanskej lipy

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