Initially educated as a Catholic priest, Stane Kregar subsequently had the opportunity to study painting in Prague, where he became acquainted with the works of French and Czech surrealists. Under their influence, he created works in the late 1930s that explore surrealist effects through dreamlike and metaphysical scenes, such as Hunter at Daybreak, 1937, on display in Room II.

In the years after World War II, Kregar gradually turned to abstraction, with colors becoming the principal pictorial element. He broke down realistically painted images with large color patches into color shapes, only sketchily hinting at reality. Color became autonomous, gradually dissolving the object until only a faint suggestion of its presence remained. Kregar’s art from this period is described as lyrical abstraction inspired by elements from the real world and nature, while color and composition serve primarily to evoke a poetic atmosphere.

This type of painting predominated in Kregar’s oeuvre until 1962. The work After the Harvest has warm, yellow-orange patches of color, complemented by green hues in the bottom part of the painting. The title has an associative effect, directing our thoughts to the time of late summer or early autumn, when crops are being harvested in the fields.

The painting Execution Wall has a similar effect, evoking associations with World War II through its color palette and title. In both paintings, the title can be understood as suggesting a possible interpretation of the work. The main component remains the colors that provoke different feelings in every individual, allowing the artist to depict the undepictable.