Page 27 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Croatia

A POR TR AIT OF CRO A TIA  25

Vincent od Kastva
Artists One of the most expressive Saints Julian and Nicholas (1465)
is in the church of St Mary of
Painting in Croatia cannot cycles of frescoes in Istria Danče (Sv. Marije na Dančama).
boast a history equal to that bears the signature of this
of sculpture since it was Istrian painter, Vincent od
only after contact with the Kastva (Vincenzo da Castua),
Venetian school at the end of who lived in the 15th century.
the 16th century that Croatian The frescoes are hidden away
painting emerged in Istria in the small church of St Mary
and Dalmatia. The monasteries (Sv. Marija na Škriljinah) in
and cathedrals commissioned Beram. The brightly coloured
Venetian masters to make frescoes on the side walls
altarpieces and in emulating and the inside façade were
these models the great artists painted, with assistants, in
of Dubrovnik developed. about 1471 and have a
In the late 17th and 18th primitive but vigorous style.
centuries, the Baroque style The Life of Christ and the Virgin
predominated in inland has figures of saints; the best-
Croatia in architecture as well known work is the Dance of
as art. Baroque originated in Death, where Death, holding Detail, polyptych by Lovro Dobričević in
German-speaking areas and a scythe, punishes sinners, the church of St Mary of Danče
inspired local artists; the here represented by all the
Austrian artist Ivan Ranger most powerful people on Julije Klović
(see p210) was a key figure. earth (from the pope to lords
Interest in religious paintings of the manor). Julije Klović (Giulio Clovio)
then dwindled, and in the was one of the most famous
19th century, young artists Lovro Dobričević Renaissance miniaturists.
were inspired by pan-European Little is known of Lovro A native of Croatia (he was
culture. In the 1930s and Marinov Dobričević (Lorenzo born in Grižane
1940s Naive Art developed. de Boninis), pupil of Paolo in 1498), his
Veneziano, who lived most significant
in the 15th century works are found
and is regarded as one outside the
of the most significant country.
exponents of the The painter
Dubrovnik school. developed his
Two of his great works craft in Venice,
are in Dubrovnik: the and was then
Baptism of Christ summoned to Miniature
(c.1448) is in the work in Rome, by Klović
Dominican Museum Mantua, Perugia
and the polyptych and numerous monasteries.
Dance of Death by Vincent od Kastva Virgin, Christ and the He died in Rome in 1578.
The Hlebine School
Krsto Hegedušić (1901–75), Expressionist painter and later a Naive artist, founded a group of artists called
Zemlja (“Earth”). He encouraged the work of two amateur painters from the village of Hlebine, near
Koprivnica: Ivan Generalić and Franjo Mraz, who depicted their local world on glass and canvas in fresh,
vivid style. Together with Mirko Virius they founded the Hlebine School which flourished from 1930 to
the beginning of World War II. Many other
painters, including Ivan Večenaj, Dragan
Gaži, Franjo Filipović and Josip Generalić,
followed their ideas, concentrating on
depicting the lives of outcasts, the poor, and
working folk. The Hlebine School became a
worldwide phenomenon with the 1952
Venice Biennale and exhibitions in Brazil and
Brussels. Naive works are on show at the
Hlebine Gallery in Koprivnica and the
Woodcutters by Generalić, Museum of Naive Art, Zagreb Museum of Naive Art in Zagreb.

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