Maksimilijan Vanka
Portrait of Dora Pejačević, 1917
oil on canvas
114 × 95 cm
MG-7179

Maksimilijan Vanka studied painting in Zagreb under Bela Čikoš Sesija and in Brussels. He worked as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb until 1934, after which he emigrated to the United States. His membership in the Group of Four, alongside Ljubo Babić, Vladimir Becić, and Jerolim Miše from 1926 to 1929, was particularly significant; after Vanka’s departure, the group transformed into the renowned Group of Three. He became a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1929.
A prominent place in his oeuvre is occupied by large-format compositions with folkloric and religious themes, colouristic watercolour landscapes, portraits, and self-portraits. He also worked in fresco painting and sculpture. Particularly noteworthy are Vanka’s designs for the stage sets and costumes of Krešimir Baranović’s ballet Licitarsko srce (The Gingerbread Heart).
Rendered in shades of blue, brown, and beige with touches of grey, the painting depicts the seated figure of composer Dora Pejačević (her body shown in profile and her face in three-quarter view) holding a violin and bow in her lap. She is dressed in a flowing beige silk gown that falls loosely along the body, while long strands of white pearls adorn her neck. The sitter’s gaze is directed toward the viewer. The expressive quality of the surrounding landscape is achieved through long, curved brushstrokes of golden and grey-blue tones in the sky, creating a swirling atmosphere charged with a distinctive emotional intensity.

Text: Ivana Rončević Elezović, PhD, Museum Advisor at the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb