Ivo Friščić
Pure Travel, 1982.
oil on canvas
141,5 x 191 cm
MG-3011

Ivo Friščić was a distinguished painter and graphic artist. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1965 and later refined his skills under the mentorship of painters and graphic artists Marijan Detoni and Albert Kinert. From 1968 to 1972, he was an associate at painters Krsto Hegedušić’s Master Workshop, while also working as an art editor. In 1985, he became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. He exhibited extensively in Croatia and abroad, including at the Venice Biennale and the Mediterranean Biennale in Alexandria, where he won first prize for painting. He was also the recipient of the prestigious Vjesnik Josip Račić Award, along with multiple awards at the Zagreb Salon and international graphic exhibitions.
His artistic work spans Surrealism, Fauvism, non-figurative painting, and Hyperrealism. In his early works, he explored metaphysical themes, while in the 1970s, he focused on Hyperrealistic urban scenes, often commenting on the chaos of city spaces. By the mid-1970s, he turned to ecological themes, merging industrial motifs with abstraction, while later exploring harmony between humans and nature through depictions of flowers and vegetation. Through his graphic portfolios and drawings, he expressed psychological and emotional layers of human existence, using complex textures and symbolism.
In painting Pure Travel, geometric shapes and fragmented perspective create a sense of space viewed from multiple angles at once, while soft pastel colors and precise lines evoke architectural blueprints and futuristic landscapes, exploring the relationship between space, technology, and perception.

Text: Lorena Šimić, curator at the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb