Alexander Eckerdt looked like a bohemian when wearing glasses with coloured frame His work was out of step with the times. Socialist-realist aesthetics prevailed in Czechoslovakia, but he refused to accept it. He was inclined towards Czech and European modern art. His graphics were simplified, clean and almost brought to perfection. Lyrical poetry was close to him. Eckerdt’s work is characterized by simplicity, coloristic restraint and a significant artistic shortcut. He mastered two-handed drawing brilliantly. He was one of the few Slovak graphic artists who worked with the traditional technique of lithography. At the end of his life, he devoted himself to nude drawings. He was born on July 6, 1932 in Košice. He had studied at the Graphic Arts School in Prague for two years, and then in 1952 he entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava (VŠVU). He graduated in 1958. Since then he worked in Košice.
From 1960 to 1964 he had taught at the People’s School of Art on Moyzes street. At present, however, the school has been renamed The Elementary School of Fine Arts, and the seat of the school is on Kováčska street No 43 Eckerdt presented his works during many individual exhibitions in many cities including Bratislava, Brno and West Berlin of that time. He formed the breeding ground for the fine arts in the city. He initiated the founding of a creative group Roveň in the years 1962 – 1965. During the Velvet Revolution, he was one of the founders of the civil movement Public Against Violence.
Location: The Alexander Eckerdt Gallery on Kováčska Street 33, Košice
