A trained art historian worked at the beginning of the 1980s in the visual-development center of the Detva cooperative in Bratislava. Among other things, he was also the initiator and participant in the revival of old glass painting. The stylization of his first, already remarkable pictures at that time, was based on old models – on figures of folk musicians, shepherds, craftsmen, and representatives of other professions.
From 1981 to 1986 he devoted himself fully to painting glass pictures and already as a recognized author, he prepared, at the request of the Bratislava Gallery of Children, a cycle of fairy tales, from which individual pictures were subsequently replicated separately (Musicians Walking Uphill, Bride on a Fence, About Three Brothers, and others). His other captivating works with attractive content are filled with multifaceted symbolism (for example, Requiem for a Woodcutter or Tree of Life). In several pictures, Ján Papco drew inspiration from folk literature, with the help of which he aimed to achieve resemblance to the inner sources of old glass paintings. The symbolic language of his works drew from the fairy tales of Pavol Dobšinský and Samuel Czambel. He never chose his themes randomly, his thoughtful philosophy was based on personal knowledge of the experiences and feelings of rural people.
Ján Papco painted glass pictures using a combination of watercolor, tempera, and oil techniques, depending on whether he wanted to achieve softness and transparency in the painting, or contrast or other effects. A large part of his pictures captivates us with warm tones of brown and ocher, as well as with original content that is unique to the author and his intellect. Their artistic value is undeniable, as evidenced by the interest of Slovak and Czech cultural institutions and individuals from Europe and other parts of the world.
Currently, Ján Papco is the director of the Slovak National Museum – Museum in Bojnice, and he will perhaps further develop the art of glass painting in retirement