WORLD-REKNOWNED Slovak painter and graphic artist Koloman Sokol died at the age of 100 on January 12 in Tucson, Arizona.
Born on December 12, 1902, in Liptovský Mikuláš, Koloman Sokol was the most significant Slovak graphic artist of the 20th century. He studied art in Košice, Prague, and later in Paris. In 1937 he started teaching at a university in Mexico City. After world war two, he came back to Czechoslovakia for several years, then he lived in Canada and the US from 1948 onward.
Sokol's paintings are partly influenced by Pablo Picasso's work and portray social motifs and nudes.
On December 12 Liptovský Mikuláš celebrated Sokol's 100th birthday by opening a museum in his name in the 16th-century Pongrácovská House. The museum presents over 70 works by the artist. For the occasion the Matica slovenská foundation launched the annual Koloman Sokol prize, which will be given to young talented artists for the first time this year.
The SITA news agency received the sad news from Peter Michal Bohúň's gallery in Liptovský Mikuláš, which learned about it from Sokol's son George.
