Croatian History

Andrija Medulic (Andrea Schiavone, Andrea Meldola de Hiadra), (~1500-1563), a painter born in Zadar or Nadin, started his artistic career in Sibenik and continued in Venice. His works of art are scattered throughout Europe: Zadar, Sibenik, Zagreb, Venice, Milano, Florence, Naples, Torino, Verona, Paris (Louvre), London, Oxford, Richmond, Dublin, Amsterdam, Vienna, Dresden, St. Petersburg, Belgrade. Medulic influenced Tintoretto, who stated that any true painter must possess at least one of his masterpieces. As Klovic, he also influenced El Greco, a…

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Martin Rota Kolunic (Martinus Rota) was born in c. 1540 in Sibenik, Croatia. About 1565 he was already working as an engraver in Venice, while by 1573 he became the court portraitist in Vienna. He died in Prague in 1583. He belongs to the most significant European graphic artists of the second half of the 16th century. He is also well known for his reproductions of the outstanding masters of the Renaissance: Tizian, Michelangelo, Dürer and others. He engraved a…

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In the fine arts of our time probably the most famous is the sculptor Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962), who created masterpieces, many of which are dedicated to the history of his motherland. You can see them in the Mestrovic gallery in Split and in Croatian capital Zagreb. He also created the bust of Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, New York (Croatia Place, Lackawanna), the grand “Monument of the Unknown Soldier” and “The Monument of Gratitude to France” in Belgrade, the beautiful Mausoleum of…

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Jozo Kljaković (1889-1969) is distinguished Croatian painter and illustrator. His paintings and murals are mainly of religious content. Kljaković is best known for his frescos that he painted in the church of St. Mark in Zagreb, in the parish churches of Vranjic (near the city of Split), in Dobrota (in Boka kotorska), and in the memorial church in Biskupija near the town of Knin, as well as for his  mosaics in the Pontifical Croatian St. Jerome Institute in Rome. He left Croatia…

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I like very much Gabrijel Jurkic (1886-1974), a little known Croatian painter from Bosnia – Herzegovina, who studied at the Academy of Arts in Vienna. If you come to Sarajevo, don’t miss to see his beautiful “Flower plateau” (from the Kupres area) painted in 1914, held in The Art Gallery of Bosnia – Herzegovina in Sarajevo. See on the left, and many more on Croats in Bosnia – Herzegovina. Biography of Gabrijel Jurkic (in Croatian).

Croatian painter and muralist Maximilian (Maxo) Vanka (Zagreb 1889 – Mexico 1963) completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where later he became professor of painting. He also studied at the Brussels Academy of Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium. As a young student he exhibited at an international show in the Belgian capital and in 1914 won the gold medal of King Albert at this event, for his Bistricki prostenjari (Marija Bistrica fairgoers) with beautiful Croatian folklore…

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One of the symbols of the United Nations that everybody knows is the Horsewoman (the Monument of Peace), a sculpture created by Antun Augustincic (1900-1979). It was given as a gift to the UN and it is situated in front of the main building in New York. The basement of the monument is made of the marble from the Croatian island of Brac. The equestrian statue was cast in the city of Zagreb, capital of Croatia. The Monument of Peace…

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Zdenka Sertić (1899-1986), Croatian painter and ethnographer, collaborated in various journals, lexicons, and enciclopaedias as a graphic illustrator specilized in Croatian folklore, in particular in national comstumes and customs. She had exhibitions in Paris, Leipzig, Barcelona, Berlin, Haag, Bruxelles, Kopenhagen, etc.

Kristian Krekovic (1901-1985), outstanding Croatian artist, born in the village of Koprivna near Tuzla in Bosnia – Herzegovina, in the family of forester from Croatian region of Lika, died in Palma de Mallorca. He studied in Vienna and Paris, and already since 1928 was a member of the French Society of Visual Arts. The same year he was awarded the gold medal in Bordeaux (Exhibition of international art). Krekovic portrayed many ministers, statesmen, and outstanding persons like Mahatma Gandhi (1931…

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Oscar Nemon (1906-1985), outstanding sculptor and medallist, was born in Croatian town Osijek, and has Jewish roots (Oscar Neumann). Having obtained his baccalaureate in Osijek, in 1923 he moved to Vienna. He was inspired and supported by Ivan Mestrovic, a great Croatian sculptor. In 1931 Nemon made a portrait of Sigmund Freud in person, for which Freud said to be “…a very good and astonishingly lifelike impression of me”. After a short stay in Paris, having obtained bursary from his…

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