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Ivan MeshtrovicCroatian sculptor
Date of Birth: 15.08.1883
Country:  Croatia |
Content:
Biography of Ivan Meštrović
Ivan Meštrović was a Croatian sculptor and the creator of the national school of sculpture. He was born on August 15, 1883 in Vrpolje, in a peasant family. As a young boy, he worked as a shepherd and pursued wood carving as a hobby, decorating household objects. His talent was noticed and he was sent to study marble carving in Split.
Education and Career
From 1901 to 1904, Meštrović studied architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. After his studies, he began exhibiting his works, including at the Vienna Secession exhibitions. He traveled extensively and worked mainly in Paris and Rome. Some of his best works include the architectural and sculptural design of the Rachić family mausoleum in Cavtat near Dubrovnik (1923), the monument to Grigor Nin in Split (1926-1927), and the monument to the Unknown Hero on Mount Avala near Belgrade (1934-1938). His sculptures were exhibited in America at the Brooklyn Museum (1924) and the Metropolitan Museum (1947).
Life in the United States
In 1945, Meštrović emigrated and settled in the United States. From 1947, he lived in Syracuse and Notre Dame, teaching sculpture at universities. In 1952, the sculptor donated his house in Split, along with all the artworks inside, to the Yugoslav Republic. Meštrović passed away on January 16, 1962 in South Bend, Indiana.
Style and Legacy
Meštrović's style is characterized by tense poses reminiscent of Michelangelo, as well as archaic simplification of forms, linear detailing, and rough surface texture. His art is further removed from modernism compared to the distorted or abstract forms of many of his contemporaries. However, it often exhibits a slight extravagance, despite the sculptor's powerful talent and abundance of remarkable decorative motifs.
