Results of the Public Anonymous Competition for the Art Design of a Silver Collector Coin in Nominal Value of 10 Euro Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the Birth of Martin Kukučín

Second prize and realization of the obverse
Miroslav Ronai

Second prize and realization of the reverse
Mgr. art. Peter Valach

Third prize
Mária Poldaufová

In March 2009, Národná banka Slovenska announced a public anonymous competition to create a design for a silver collector coin in nominal value of 10 euro to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the birth of prominent Slovak literary figure, prose-writer, dramatist and publicist, Martin Kukučín. Eleven contestants submitted a total of twelve art works in the competition. The NBS Governor’s Commission for the Assessment of Art Designs of Slovak Euro Cois assessed them in June 2009. The professional advisor to the commission in the selection of a creative design for this coin was PhDr. Marcela Mikulová, CSc., representative of the Institute of Slovak Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

The commission concluded that a combination of designs by two authors, the averse by Miroslav Rónai and the averse by Mgr. Art. Peter Valach, was the most appropriate for realization. Both designs were awarded the second prize.

On the selected averse, the commission judged the rendering of the theme positively. On it, portrayed in a balanced composition, is a typical environment of the island of Brač, on which Kukučín spent a considerable part of his life, as well as an authentic “house on the hillside” from his best-known novel of the same name. In the opinion of the commission and the professional advisor, the portraits on the reverse, submitted as an alternative, did not fully represent the personality of Martin Kukučín.

On the reverse that was selected, the commission appreciated the sculptural quality of the portrait, which it deemed to be both faithful and characteristic. The commission also regarded as interesting the representation of a cuckoo, as a reference to the pseudonym the writer adopted. The composition is appropriately complemented by a facsimile of his civil name signature “Dr. Matej Bencúr”. However, the animal motifs on the averse do not adequately represent Kukučín’s extensive body of work, being oriented only towards a part of it.

The third prize was awarded to Mária Poldaufová. The realistic portrait on the reverse of her design attracted the attention of the commission. The author chose a motif depicting the writer’s house on the averse.