Nasta Rojc, Female Portrait, 1913

Nasta Rojc
Female Portrait, 1913
oil on canvas
126.7 x 99.8 cm
MG-546

Nasta Rojc (1883–1964) studied painting under Oton Iveković in Zagreb and at the Academy in Munich from 1903 to 1907, with professors Heinrich Knirr and Hugo von Habermann. During her time there, she interacted with Miroslav Kraljević, Josip Račić, and Vladimir Becić, so her artwork can potentially be interpreted within the context of the so-called Munich Circle. Between 1907 and 1910, she resided in Vienna, studying painting under Ludwig Michalek and Friedrich König. Upon her return to Zagreb, she resumed working in the private studio of Oton Iveković. She spent the years 1926/27 in London and Reading. She held solo exhibitions in Vienna, Zagreb, and London. During this period, she also took part in exhibitions organised by the Croatian Society of Arts, Lada Association, the Women’s Art Club, the Little Entente of Women, and others. She was married to the painter Branko Šenoa. Together with Lina Virant Crnčić, she was instrumental in co-founding the Women’s Art Club in Zagreb in 1928. Beyond the artistic quality of her work, Nasta Rojc made significant contributions to the emancipation of women in the arts in Croatia.
Rendered in a dark palette, with lighter flesh tones highlighting the face and hands – bare up to the elbows and folded in the lap – this evocative portrait of a young woman captures the Symbolist atmosphere of the turn of the century. The expression’s intensity is amplified by the straightforward, symmetrical composition, featuring a seated female figure centrally positioned and depicted frontally, with a piercing gaze confidently directed at the observer.

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

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