Vojin Bakić
Self-Portrait, 1952
bronze
28 × 21 × 22 cm
MG-2596
Vojin Bakić (1915–1992) studied in Zagreb under Frano Kršinić and drew inspiration from both classical and modernist traditions. During the 1950s, his work progressively abandoned descriptive detailing in favour of structural unity and formal abstraction in both small-scale works and monumental commemorative sculptures that brought him international recognition.
Self-Portrait demonstrates Bakić’s shift toward pronounced reduction and cubist stylisation. Facial features are condensed into simplified planes and integrated into a compact, structurally unified mass. The emphasis is no longer on psychological likeness but on the geometric articulation of volume. The work marks an early stage in his systematic pursuit of purified sculptural form, anticipating the increasingly abstract volumes that would define his mature phase.

Text: Marta Radman, curator at the National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Marta Radman
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb