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Ivan Meštrović

Regarded as one of the most important sculptors of the 20th century, Ivan Meštrović
was born in 1883 in Vrpolje where his parents had gone for the harvest from their
native village of Otavice in the Dalmatian hinterland. As a young boy he delighted in
making figures out of wood, and his work was noticed by the village mayor and by
Lujo Marun, an archaeologist, who sent him to Split when he was 17 to study
sculpture. Thanks to donors, he was able to attend the Academy of Fine Arts in
Vienna, where he designed works for later production. Here he met and became
friends with the great French sculptor, Auguste Rodin. In 1908 he moved to Paris and
his first exhibition established his reputation. He worked in various cities, including
Split – creating many of the works now on show in the Meštrović gallery there – and
Zagreb. He also took up politics: during World War II he was imprisoned by the Nazi
regime and freed on the Vatican's intervention. He then moved to Rome where he
sculpted the Pietà Romana, now in the Vatican Museum. After the war he taught at
univer sities in the US, where he died in 1962. He was buried in the burial chapel in
Otavice (see p112) that he designed for himself and his family.

Woman by the Sea
is a splendid
Meštrović, female figure in
intent on his marble (1926)
work which seems
to twist
around on
itself. The
form of the
body is
vigorous and
Detail of the yet the hands
Resurrection of are delicate
Lazarus (1940) and slender.

The Sculptor at Work
The speed at which Meštrović executed his works was
proverbial, although the preparation time was lengthy.
To satisfy demand, he replicated his works in wood, marble
and bronze. Three copies, not quite identical, exist of the
statue of the Bishop of Nin, in Nin, Split and Varaždin.

Mother and Child
is a wooden sculpture
from 1942 which
demonstrates the
artist’s great
expressive talent. The
figure of the child is History of Croatia is a work from 1932.
almost insignificant, There are four originals; one in bronze is in
leaving the face of the Meštrović Atelier in Zagreb. The woman’s
the mother to play thoughtful gaze looks to the future,
the main role. symbolizing expectations and hopes.

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