Milan Steiner
In the Rain, 1918
oil on canvas
34.4×46.4 cm
MG-2261
Milan Steiner (1894-1918) graduated from the Transitional Advanced School of Arts and Crafts (today’s Academy of Fine Arts) in Zagreb in 1916. He exhibited only once in his life, and this in 1916 at the end of his studies at the final student exhibition. Steiner’s small oeuvre was created in less than five years and stands out with its artistic quality. As far as his Croatian influences are concerned, he drew on Miroslav Kraljević’s legacy, and as for his international influences, those of Max Liebermann and Max Slevogt are observable. Critics highlight the specificity and internal cohesion of Steiner’s painting, which was a continuation of the painting of the Munich Circle.
Milan Steiner’s painting In the Rain from 1918 depicts an everyday urban scene in a condensed manner and in grey hues. The specific postures of the depicted figures, which are indicated by Steiner’s long, oblique, visible and smeary brushstrokes, lend an air of Expressionism to the painting as a whole, dynamise human movement and help create the impression of rain falling.
Text: Ivana Rončević Elezović, museum consultant of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Ana Janković
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb