Emerik Bernard
Emerik Bernard, born in 1937 in Celje, is regarded as one of the most important fine artists and a representative of Slovenian late modernism and post-modernism. Discovering his love of art very early in his life, he enrolled in the Secondary School for Design and Photography in Ljubljana, and later continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. Here, he completed his postgraduate study of painting in 1968.
Twenty years later, he returned to the Academy as an assistant professor and spent many years teaching young, promising painters. In 2007, the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts elected him as its full member. He has received several awards for his painting, including the Župančič Award in 1986, the Prešeren Fund Award a year later, the Jakopič Award in 1989 and the Prešeren Award for outstanding artistic achievements in 1997.
His paintings frequently depict landscapes, which are shown as a multitude of colours, material and incorporeal shapes, and multi-layered surfaces. He is known for skilfully combining beauty and depth of meaning into a comprehensive artistic image, which leaves viewers with strong impressions.
Painting, however, is not the only activity Emerik engages in. He is also an art philosopher, a connoisseur of philosophy, literature and history, as well as the theory of painting. Over the years, he has written several original essays within these fields, which he published in 2000 in the book entitled Približevanja, followed by another book in 2008 entitled Deleženja.