His early painted portrayals of karst landscapes already hinted at the harmonious compositions of shapes and colours that would recur in his work. Later in his career, Komel typically created multicoloured surfaces in cold and warm shades, which blend softly together while light shines through or from behind them.

On display are 31 paintings, 13 drawings and prints, and photographs of Silvester Komel in his studio taken by the photographers Tihomir Pinter, Joco Žnidaršič and Metod Zavadlav.

Silverster Komel was born on 5 September 1931 in Rožna Dolina, a village near Gorica. In 1947 he enrolled in the Department of Applied Printmaking at the School of Decorative Art in Ljubljana, but his studies there came to an end after the third year due to illness. In 1953 Komel passed the entrance exam to the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, and studied under Professors Marij Pregelj and Gabrijel Stupica.
He finished his studies in 1958, but did not graduate until 1968 with a thesis entitled Combining Art and Craft under the mentorship of Professor Stupica. After that, he worked as a fine art teacher first in the primary school in Miren, and then in Šempeter pri Gorici.
Despite the fact that his teaching career was challenging, he spent all of his free time painting, which resulted in a vast and valuable opus. His exhibition in in the Ljubljana City Art Gallery in 1971 earned him widespread recognition and was a turning point in his career. A number of important exhibitions ensued in the former Yugoslavia (in Nova Gorica, Štanjel, Koper, Murska Sobota, Maribor, Celje, Grožnjan, Zagreb, Beograd, and Novi Sad) and abroad (Venice, Yverdon, Cologne, Trieste, Zürich, Bonn). He was also a member of the prominent international art group 2 X GO.
Komel received two important awards for his work, namely the Bevk Award in 1975 and the Prešeren Fund Award in 1981. His life came to an end unexpectedly and prematurely at the age of just 52, on 24 December 1983, while arranging a large retrospective exhibition, which was held the next year in Kromberk Castle.