Ivo Lozica
(1910 – 1943)
Portrait of Frida Grgić, 1939
marble
52.5 x 42 x 36 cm
MG-2168
Ivo Lozica attended the Stonemasonry School in Korčula from 1923 to 1925, where sculptor Frano Kršinić took note of his talent and referred him to the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where he studied sculpture from 1926 to 1930 (under R. Valdec and R. Frangeš-Mihanović), and in 1933 he completed I. Meštrović’s advanced course in sculpture. As a French government scholarship holder, he attended the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris from 1933 to 1934. In 1935 he moved to Split and in 1938 he started teaching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. He died prematurely in 1943, after having moved to his native Lumbarda on the Island of Korčula. He collaborated on Meštrović’s projects in Otavice (mausoleum) and Split (studio).
Drawing on the Mediterranean sculptural tradition (F. Kršinić), particularly its sensibility for light and form, and on his Parisian experiences (A. Maillol, A. Rodin and A. Bourdelle), Lozica created a unique series of intimist, lyrically shaped nudes featuring round volumes and flickering surfaces, anticipating the post-WWII sculptural synthesis of figuration and abstraction in Croatia. In the early 1940s, Lozica started being more of a realist in his approach to modelling dynamic sculptures featuring social themes and motifs from typical life in Dalmatia. These sculptures tell of an obvious shift from lyrical-meditative motifs towards Realism, connecting social themes and unaffected figuration of expressively modelled masses.
The contemplative portrait bust of Frida Grgić with a serene facial expression is executed in a refined realistic manner. The heart-shaped face is delicate and fragile, with hair parted in the middle and combed back, elegant neck and oval neckline. The facial features are modelled softly, with the refined treatment of white marble and a polished fluid surface, while the lower part of the bust, in the shoulder and breast area, is roughly carved with diagonal incisions and displays a clear organisation of matter and solid relationships within the block.
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