The Landscape of a Collector To understand Michal Tillner, one must look past the simple label of painter. He was a designer, a draftsman, and a documentarian of folk culture who operated with a specific, localized intensity. Born in Vienna on May 25, 1895, his roots were tied to the Malacky Habán family, a lineage that informed his lifelong obsession with the heritage of his ancestors. His training at the School of Applied Arts in Vienna after the First World War provided the technical foundation for a career that spanned graphic design and landscape painting. He did not merely observe the…