Ivan Tišov
(1870–1928)
Portrait of an Old Man, 1891
oil on canvas
49 x 39 cm
MG-6795

Ivan Tišov (1870–1928) graduated from the School of Crafts in Zagreb, where he later worked as a professor. He then studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna and the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. During 1913/14, Tišov also attended the Académie Julian in Paris. He painted primarily in the style of Academic Realism, with inclinations towards Pleinairism and Symbolism as was the spirit of the times. Among Tišov’s most significant public commissions are decorations of the “Golden Hall” at the Department of Religious Affairs and Education in Zagreb (1893–96), then the foyer of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (1905), the National and University Library (1914), and he also painted the interior of his own house in Zagreb.

Portrait of an Old Man from 1891 is painted in the style of skilful, technically solid Academic Realism. The bust-length figure of the old man is set against a distinctly bright, neutral background, with only a darker shadow of the head in the background in the very centre of the painting. The pose of the old man’s head, his gaze directed upwards, convey a somewhat sentimental undertone. The colour palette is bright, with spotty brushstrokes particularly visible on the gold-yellow drapery of the cloak and the silver-grey background.

Tekst: Ivana Rončević Elezović, museum advisor of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art Zagreb, 2022
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Photo archive of National Museum of Modern Art  © National Museum of Modern Art Zagreb, 2022

Skip to content