CZECH painters were drawn to Slovakia at the end of the nineteenth century and were spellbound by the local folklore, costumes, architecture and picturesque landscape they saw.
Painter Jaroslav Augusta came to Slovakia with his parents in his early childhood. Later, in 1899, as a 21-year-old student at the Prague Academy of Fine Arts, he made the journey to the Podpoľanie region in central Slovakia. Charmed by the location, he returned there several times.
It was during his very first journey to those parts that he created the portrait of Adam Rajčok from Očová. As can be seen, men used to wear long hair with little braids - kečky.
The beautifully embroidered folk costume is typical for this region. Women embroidered them according to a pre-outlined decorative pattern, stretching the cloth on a frame and working with curved needles similar to crochet hooks.
The embroidery tradition has been preserved in this region. Many women from the village of Očová now embroider various products for handicraft shops.
This postcard showing Jaroslav Augusta's painting comes from the period shortly after World War I.
