It all started a few years ago. I was just driving through Karvina to take an early evening photo of the ČSA mine when I got a call from an unknown number with a French area code. 

The charming lady on the other end introduced herself as Marion Tivital (*1960), who said she had discovered my photographs and would very much like to make some paintings based on them. 

Of course, I allowed that someone was finding inspiration in my poor photographic work and I was only pleased. 

At the time, I had no idea that I was talking to Marion Tivital, an important French artist who is represented in the world’s leading galleries. 

With her unique style, in which she reduces giant industrial buildings to minimalist geometric objects, she immortalized two Czech industrials – the iconic coke plant of the Koněv smelterin Kladno and the now non-existent ventilation pit No. 13 of the Hamr uranium mine near Stráže pod Ralskem. Both paintings were sold at auction for thousands of euros.