About the Artist

Through the Eyes of a Slovak Art Theorist and Historian: Lucie Hanyková’s artistic work is exemplary, a model of creative style, and provides answers to the very purpose of a work of art. Deliberate intent, intuition, and chance often play varying yet exceptionally significant roles in shaping this artist’s pictorial surface. They arise somewhere within the artist’s consciousness, and it is merely a matter of talent to what degree the artist expresses originality. Talent, after all, is not a craft. Nor does the viewer’s intellect determine whether a work’s distinctiveness stems from descriptive, technical painting. Every society has been driven forward by artistic uniqueness, exploration, and experimentation—simply put, the artist’s elusive freedom of expression. Using the relatively demanding technique of oil painting with a palette knife, Lucie Hanyková presents works on the art scene that are vibrantly colored, mysterious, and deeply philosophical. I admire her for not being afraid, in an era dominated by largely empty abstraction, to express the values of our existence through the figure and the portrait. No individual, through speech or writing, can ever fully capture the depth and richness of understanding that high-quality visual art conveys. I am merely attempting to highlight, celebrate, or remind viewers of the significance of the forces embodied in the artist’s work. And the greater its artistic value, the more it educates society—an education without which society would hardly be able to exist. I believe that, after decades of painting, Lucie now paints with a maturity that allows the viewer to grasp the meaning of her work. As I explore the artist’s relatively extensive body of work, I appreciate her brief creative encounters with significant artistic movements. In nearly every painting, she touches on Expressionism, enriching it with elements of Futurism and Constructivism. Lucie’s entire body of work is governed by her own principles of Fauvism. It is as if she wanted to declare, with broad strokes of the palette knife, that color is joy and must be honored. I would also like to point out that a strong thread of humanism runs through the artist’s entire body of work—not only admiration, but also the joy of existence. She delightfully enriches some of her paintings with details drawn from Naivism and Symbolism. Lucie is a rare artist today. She is characterized by her striving for an authentic expression of the underlying events we experience. They are beautifully complex, vivid, and essential. And the artist successfully conveys them through their profound and valuable message.

— PhDr. Luboslav Moza PhD.