Tag: 1914.

Robert Auer, Natura morte, 1914

Robert Auer
Natura morte, 1914
oil on canvas
80.5 x 70.8 cm
MG-358

Robert Auer (1873-1952) studied painting at the School of Crafts in Zagreb, at the School of Arts and Crafts in Vienna and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he moved to in 1895 and exhibited at the Munich Art Nouveau exhibition in 1896. Together with his wife, painter Leopoldina Auer Schmidt, in 1987 he opened a private art school in Zagreb, which was attended by painters Tomislav Krizman and Joso Bužan. He participated in the founding of the Lada Croatian Artists’ Association and the Society of Croatian Artists. He taught at the School of Crafts in Zagreb from 1905 and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb from 1918. In terms of style, Auer painted in the vein of Munich-based Academicism and Jugendstil, and portraits and nudes in the spirit of idealised Realism, which were particularly popular amongst the bourgeoisie of his time.
Auer’s Natura morte from 1914 is executed in a solid academic style of tonal painting, characterised by muted complementary hues of burgundy and green. The depiction of the transparent glass and the water in the large jar is especially accomplished, showcasing a near-masterful technique. The still life of winter preserves is convincingly rendered, with the human figure deliberately omitted. The composition features muted tones of red, yellow, and green peppers, along with a deep green, earthy jug, all set against a white draped tablecloth. This arrangement brings to life a geometrically structured composition divided into three clear zones: the lower horizontal zone of the white pleated drapery, the upper two-thirds of the vertical format with a red-brown background enlivened by dishes and vegetables hanging on the wall, and the central horizontal zone that highlights the ‘protagonist’ of the scene – the still life arrayed across the table.

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

Petar Dobrović, Suburb N., 1914

Petar Dobrović
Suburb N., 1914
oil on canvas, 73 x 97.8 cm
MG-1483

The family of Petar Dobrović (1890–1942) was originally from Slavonia, more precisely Daruvar, but they relocated to Hungary. From 1909 to 1911, Dobrović studied painting in Budapest, where he staged the first public showing of his works at the Museum of Fine Arts in 1911. In his native Pécs, he socialised with writer Miroslav Krleža. He spent the period from 1912 to 1914 in Paris, when he created a series of drawings influenced by Cézanne and Cubism. After returning from Paris, he published prints in a series of prestigious Hungarian magazines and newspapers, such as: Tett, Ma, and Nvugat. In 1919, Dobrović staged solo exhibitions in Zagreb and Novi Sad, and he also showed his work in Paris at the Exhibition of Yugoslav Artists. He stayed in the French capital again from 1926 to 1930. There, he visited exhibitions and wrote critiques for Parisian and German newspapers. Between 1923 and 1925, Dobrović taught at the Art School in Belgrade, and from 1937, he worked as a professor at the Belgrade Academy, which he also helped establish. In Belgrade, he also participated in the founding of the Form (Oblik in Croatian) Art Group in 1926, which, in line with current European trends, promoted a return to realism and the plastic values of painting. His summers spent on the island of Hvar and in Dubrovnik, where he created a series of landscapes and portraits in oil and watercolour techniques are noteworthy. Dobrović’s painting was particularly marked by the colouristic realism of the 1930s.
While Anka Krizmanić’s industrial veduta in the painting The Nova Ves Working-Class Suburb, 1912 is indicated in the lower third of the picture, with the background landscape occupying the other two thirds, Dobrović approaches the same theme by almost entirely filling the surface of the painting with the depiction of the city. The presence of nature is only suggested by a triangular fragment of bluish sky squeezed against the upper edge of the painting. Nevertheless, the impression in both paintings is similar and emphasises the harshness of the expansion of the modern industrial city at the expense of nature, possessing a certain social significance. Although in a different register of warm reddish-orange and brown tones, similar to that of Krizmanić, Dobrović’s palette is muted, and the structure of the painting is marked by the pronounced geometry of architectural cubes.

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

Ivan Meštrović, Portrait of Karmen Matić, 1914

Ivan Meštrović
(1883 – 1962)
Portrait of Karmen Matić, 1914
bronze
54.5 x 35 x 30.5 cm
MG-6505

Ivan Meštrović is the most prominent Croatian sculptor of the first half of the 20th century who has, during his lifetime, achieved worldwide fame and acclaim. He studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna from 1901 to 1905, and during his formative years he was influenced by the prevailing atmosphere of the Vienna Secession, having himself become its typical representative in the medium of sculpture. Between 1923 and 1942, he served as the rector of Zagreb’s Academy of Fine Arts. His artistic, professional and public work exerted significant influence on his coevals, the younger generation of sculptors and the birth of Modernism in Croatia.
Since the beginning of his distinguished career, Meštrović had been recognised as a remarkable talent and master artist of a distinctive skill at shaping sculptural forms. Using his exceptional talent, he executed monumental, religious and intimate motifs of universal value.
Meštrović’s entire oeuvre is steeped in portrait sculptures and unique female characters featuring harmonious elegance and refined stylisation. Together with his wife Ruža Meštrović, he often portrayed his contemporaries and friends. Carmen de Spalatin was a woman of exceptional beauty and a close friend of Ruža Meštrović, who inspired her close friend Ivan Meštrović. The portrait bust of a young woman is modelled with her head slightly turned left and wrapped in a smooth scarf, which is tied at the back of the neck and highlights the curve of her head. Bangs and strands of her short hair peek out from under the scarf framing her serious face. The standout features are her physiognomic details, such as the eyebrows and drawn eyelids. The lips are pressed together and the chin is rounded. The volume is closed, and the surfaces are smooth and fluid, while in the profile view, the sides of the bust are cut flatly. The sculptor balances the decorative aspect of the style with the model’s character, without falling into the trap of excessive beautification and attractive visual representation.

Text: Tatijana Gareljić, museum consultant of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

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