Myhal Čabala – Through the Eyes of His Contemporaries

Abstract

The paper attempts to analyze the work of Myhal Čabala, a Rusyn painter from Čabyny, who lived in Prešov throughout his professional life and whose rich and significant art expressed admiration and love for the Rusyn nation, its nature and the region. He was inspired not only by the region itself. What is important in Čabala’s painting is a sensitive perception of the traditional Rusyn folk culture and its creative power of expression, as well as inspiration with landscape and figurative motifs. Myhal Čabala’s art can be described as the apotheosis of the Rusyn region and people. Already during the artist’s lifetime, his work had a significant impact not only on the identity of the Rusyns living in Slovakia but also on the entire Slovakia, to which he was willing to devote his entire life and artistic career. What distinguishes Myhal Čabala is his great contribution to Slovak art and to the art of European painting as such.