Menci Clement Crnčić
Maestral, 1905-1910
oil on canvas, 54 x 78.1 cm
MG-430

The painter and printmaker Menci Clement Crnčić (1865–1930) studied painting at the Academies in Vienna (1882–1884) and Munich (1889–1892). After a brief period teaching painting at the School of Crafts in Zagreb, he received a scholarship in 1894, on the recommendation of Izidor Kršnjavi, to study printmaking at the Vienna Academy under Professor William Unger. In 1900, he moved to Zagreb, where, in 1903, he co-founded a private painting school together with Bela Čikoš Sesija. This institution eventually evolved into the Advanced School of Arts and Crafts, later becoming the Academy of Fine Arts, where Crnčić taught from 1907 to 1930. In 1919, he became a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (JAZU), and from 1920 to 1928, he served as the director of the Strossmayer Gallery in Zagreb.
Crnčić’s painting, in a horizontal format, depicts a sunny day by the sea, bathed in bright sunlight. The bottom two-thirds of the composition show the sea surface, gently moved by the maestral wind in waves from right to left, towards a large rock depicted along its entire left edge. The upper third features a depiction of a clear azure sky with white clouds. In the middle of the sea’s upper edge, two small white sails are visible in the distance, and along its right edge, a distant stretch of rocky coastline appears, painted in shades of purple. Crnčić’s skilful realism in capturing the atmosphere and weather conditions of the sea is evident in this work. Maestral is one of Crnčić’s more prominent seascapes, widely reproduced in publications and showcased at numerous exhibitions.

Text: Ivana Rončević Elezović PhD, museum consultant of the National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb