Miroslav Hric

(27. 2. 1982)

Miroslav Hric belongs among the most known Slovak authors of minted numismatics. A native of Žiar nad Hronom, he comes from an artistic family: his grandfather was a metal engraver in a mint in Kremnice and his father was also an artist.

In 2000 he successfully finished the School of Applied Arts and he enrolled in the sculpture studio at the Academy of Fine Arts in Bratislava. Seven years later he successfully defended his doctoral study in the field of drawing at the final examination. He has had fourteen solo exhibitions and many symposia both in the Czech Republic and abroad. The experts who have influenced his artistic development include academic sculptors Ivan Lipták and Ján Hoffstädter.

Miroslav Hric produced commemorative coins for the Czech National Bank, the National Bank of Slovakia, the Prague Mint and other customers. His last works include medals commemorating the centenary of the foundation of Czechoslovak legions. The artist believes that a design should mainly reflect the present.

Miroslav Hric lives and works in Banská Štiavnica, in a town historically connected with the mining of precious metals which were subsequently used by the mint in Kremnice for minting of its famous coins.

INTERVIEW

Medal designing has got a close relationship to history. Which period is personally closest to you?
I like to go back to the works of the masters, in particular from the high periods of the Renaissance. I admire their skill and perfect craftsmanship, their execution of the modelling and the mintage of coins and medals itself. Accurate treatment of historical themes from today’s perspective represents for me also a great challenge. I believe, however, that a design should reflect the present. Both by its composition and by the way we approach the making of the design and the study of the given theme.

Which professors and at which school influenced you most?
In connection with medal design I was inspired by the academic sculptor Ivan Lipták while I was still at the secondary School of Applied Arts in Kremnice, and later at the Academy of Fine Arts I was inspired by the academic sculptor Ján Hoffstädter, in whose studio I was. However, the first persons to influence me were my father, an artist, and my grandfather, who was apprenticed as a metal engraver in the Kremnice mint.

Could you tell us about a coin or a medal which made you most happy?
As my greatest success I consider a coin of the nominal value of two euros for the 1150th anniversary of the arrival of Cyril and Methodius to Great Moravia. It was issued in 2013 by the National Bank of Slovakia. I was also pleased that the Czech National Bank issued a coin of the nominal value of 5,000 Czech crowns which belongs in the Bridges of the Czech Republic cycle.

Where do you work and live at present?
Three years ago I moved from Bratislava to Banská Štiavnica. This town is historically associated with the mining of precious metals which were subsequently used for minting of coins in Kremnice. The spirit of history and at the same time the influx of young people give this town a unique, and according to me non-recurring, and inspiring atmosphere.