Jadranka Fatur
(1949)
Telephone, 1972 - 1973
oil on canvas
170 x 135 cm
MG- 4468
Back in her student days, Jadranka Fatur (1949) introduced herself to the audience with the painting “Telephone”. At first glance, the observer is presented with a scene of everyday urban life, a moment recorded in the hustle and bustle of the busy city street. The precisely executed details contribute to the reality of the scene, and foreshadow Jadranka Fatur’s future status as the most prominent representative of Hyperrealism in Croatia and the region-at-large. This early work, however, still comprises elements that connect the artist to Surrealist painting, which appear as a result of the montage of parts of the composition, the observation angle or the insertion of personal references such as a flyer with the artist’s image glued to the central motif of a telephone booth. Hyperrealism as a painting style does not imply a faithful transfer of the photographed scene onto the canvas. The transfer to a different medium enables the artist to manipulate the content with the aim of establishing a subjective atmosphere of the experience which, because of perfect execution, is perceived as a scene that really happened. The painting “Telephone” is a paradigmatic example of the metamorphosis of style, ranging from flirtation with the surreal to pure Hyperrealism, which presupposes the precise technical skill of execution in the realisation of the composition previously captured by a photo camera or on the basis of a collage of photographs.
From 1969 to 1974, Jadranka Fatur (b.1949) studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in the class of Prof. Miljenko Stančić. As early as 1973, she became an associate in Krsto Hegedušić’s, and later Ljubo Ivančić’s Master Workshop. In the same year, she showcased her work for the first time at the 8th Zagreb Salon held in the Art Pavilion. In 1978, as a French government scholarship recipient she travelled to Paris where she spent a year studying at the Ecole nationale superieure des Beaux-Arts. Paris was followed by study trips to Mexico, Greece, Italy, USA, Austria. She is considered the most important representative of Hyperrealism in Croatia. During her career, she participated in more than 200 group exhibitions and has staged more than 20 solo exhibitions in Germany, France, USA, Poland, Romania, the Netherlands, Canada, etc.
Text: Željko Marciuš, 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