Ivan Grohar
Encyclopedia
Ivan Grohar was a Slovene Impressionist
painter
. Together with Rihard Jakopič
, Matej Sternen
and Matija Jama
, he is considered one of the leading figures of Slovene impressionism in the fin de siecle
period.
n village of Spodnja Sorica
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From an early age, he showed an interest in art but he could not develop his talent because he was an orphan and lived in poverty. In 1888, the local vicar Anton Jamnik sent him to an exhibition in the nearby town of Škofja Loka
, enabling him to spend the summer working in the town of Kranj
under the supervision of the church painter Matija Bradaška. He also travelled to Zagreb
, where he worked in the atelier of Spiridion Milanesi, until he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army
. He disliked the military life, so he deserted and fled to Venice
, in Italy
. Left with nothing, he appealed to the Austro-Hungarian consulate. In 1889 a court sentenced him to a short stay in prison and extended his military service by one year.
In 1892, he applied to the Carniola
n Provincial Diet
for financial assistance to study at the Graz
school of painting, which he received. Two years later, he applied for assistance to study at the Academy of Fine Arts
in Vienna
. This assistance was also approved, but despite his excellent exam result, he was not accepted to the Academy because he had not finished his studies in Graz. He continued his schooling in Graz and finished it at the end of 1894. In August 1896, he opened his own atelier in Škofja Loka. He also worked in Munich
, where he attended Anton Ažbe
’s school of art. Back home, he befriended the impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič
. In autumn of 1900, he took part in the first Slovene Artists’ Exhibition, organised by the Slovene Artistic Association (Slovensko umetniško društvo, SUD). He was elected to the position of treasurer of the SUD, but illegally borrowed money from the association, for which he was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. On his release, he left for Vienna.
In 1904, Slovene impressionists Rihard Jakopič, Matej Sternen
, Matija Jama
and Ivan Grohar himself, exhibited in the Mietke gallery in Vienna as the artists’ club Sava. They enjoyed great success and sold several paintings. Later, Grohar exhibited in the Secession
in Vienna
, in Belgrade
, London
, Krakow
, Warsaw
, Trieste
, Duino
, Berlin
, and elsewhere. Despite this, he always had financial difficulties. In 1911, after interventions of the politician Janez Evangelist Krek
and the painter Rihard Jakopič, the Sorica
municipal council granted him 2000 crowns for a study trip to Italy
. He then went to Ljubljana
in order to buy everything that he would need for the trip, but he was so afflicted by illness, which he had been keeping secret, that he was delivered to the state hospital in Ljubljana, where he died of tuberculosis
. He left behind a series of priceless artworks and a number of debts, which Rihard Jakopič settled for him. Jakopič was preparing his sixth artists’ exhibition in his artists’ pavilion, which was dedicated to the memory of Ivan Grohar.
Grohar began his career as a painter of religious images, but continued it as a realist. He was influenced by Giovanni Segantini
. From summer 1900 onwards, he painted using symbolic elements, but later he embraced impressionism.
In 1926, a memorial exhibition was held in his honour. He had a great influence on later artists and his picture “Sejalec” (“the sower”) was adopted by the Semenarna Ljubljana and the Sorica tourist association. Every year, an artists’ colony is held in his honour in Škofja Loka.
The Sejalec is depicted on the Slovenian 5 cent euro coin
(2007).
His most important works were:
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. Together with Rihard Jakopič
Rihard Jakopic
Rihard Jakopič was a Slovenian painter. He was the leading Slovenian Impressionist painter and theoretician. Together with Matej Sternen, Matija Jama and Ivan Grohar, he is considered the pioneer of Slovenian impressionist painting.- Life :Jakopič was born in Ljubljana, then part of the...
, Matej Sternen
Matej Sternen
Matej Sternen was a leading Slovene Impressionist painter.Sternen was born in Verd, now part of the Carniolan municipality of Vrhnika, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He attended the secondary school in Krško and attended technical school in Graz between 1888 and 1891...
and Matija Jama
Matija Jama
Matija Jama was a Slovene painter. Together with Rihard Jakopič, Ivan Grohar and Matej Sternen, he is considered among the best representatives of Impressionism in the Slovene Lands.- Life :...
, he is considered one of the leading figures of Slovene impressionism in the fin de siecle
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
period.
Life
Grohar was born in the Upper CarniolaUpper Carniola
Upper Carniola is a traditional region of Slovenia, the northern mountainous part of the larger Carniola region. The centre of the region is Kranj, while other urban centers include Jesenice, Tržič, Škofja Loka, Kamnik, and Domžale.- Historical background :...
n village of Spodnja Sorica
Spodnja Sorica
Spodnja Sorica is a village in the Železniki municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.It is the birthplace of the Slovene Impressionist painter Ivan Grohar. The house in which he was born stands in the middle of the village and holds a small collection of items associated with Grohar...
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From an early age, he showed an interest in art but he could not develop his talent because he was an orphan and lived in poverty. In 1888, the local vicar Anton Jamnik sent him to an exhibition in the nearby town of Škofja Loka
Škofja Loka
-Art colony:Before the civil war in the former Yugoslavia the Serbian town of Smederevska Palanka and the town of Škofja Loka held art colonies Groharijeva kolonija run by an art teacher from elementary school Olga Milošević in Smederevska Palanka. Now, after the split of SFR Yugoslavia, the two...
, enabling him to spend the summer working in the town of Kranj
Kranj
' is the third largest municipality and fourth largest city in Slovenia, with a population of 54,500 . It is located approximately 20 km north-west of Ljubljana...
under the supervision of the church painter Matija Bradaška. He also travelled to Zagreb
Zagreb
Zagreb is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately above sea level. According to the last official census, Zagreb's city...
, where he worked in the atelier of Spiridion Milanesi, until he was conscripted into the Austro-Hungarian Army
Austro-Hungarian Army
The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy from 1867 to 1918. It was composed of three parts: the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .In the wake of fighting between the...
. He disliked the military life, so he deserted and fled to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
, in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. Left with nothing, he appealed to the Austro-Hungarian consulate. In 1889 a court sentenced him to a short stay in prison and extended his military service by one year.
In 1892, he applied to the Carniola
Carniola
Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...
n Provincial Diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
for financial assistance to study at the Graz
Graz
The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students...
school of painting, which he received. Two years later, he applied for assistance to study at the Academy of Fine Arts
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is an institution of higher education in Vienna, Austria.- History :The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy by the court-painter Peter Strudl, who became the Praefectus Academiae Nostrae. In 1701 he was ennobled as Baron of the Empire...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. This assistance was also approved, but despite his excellent exam result, he was not accepted to the Academy because he had not finished his studies in Graz. He continued his schooling in Graz and finished it at the end of 1894. In August 1896, he opened his own atelier in Škofja Loka. He also worked in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, where he attended Anton Ažbe
Anton Ažbe
Anton Ažbe was a Slovene realist painter and teacher of painting.Ažbe, crippled since birth and orphaned at the age of 8, learned painting as an apprentice to Janez Wolf and at the Academies in Vienna and Munich. At the age of 30 Ažbe founded his own school of painting in Munich that became a...
’s school of art. Back home, he befriended the impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič
Rihard Jakopic
Rihard Jakopič was a Slovenian painter. He was the leading Slovenian Impressionist painter and theoretician. Together with Matej Sternen, Matija Jama and Ivan Grohar, he is considered the pioneer of Slovenian impressionist painting.- Life :Jakopič was born in Ljubljana, then part of the...
. In autumn of 1900, he took part in the first Slovene Artists’ Exhibition, organised by the Slovene Artistic Association (Slovensko umetniško društvo, SUD). He was elected to the position of treasurer of the SUD, but illegally borrowed money from the association, for which he was sentenced to three months’ imprisonment. On his release, he left for Vienna.
Matej Sternen
Matej Sternen was a leading Slovene Impressionist painter.Sternen was born in Verd, now part of the Carniolan municipality of Vrhnika, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He attended the secondary school in Krško and attended technical school in Graz between 1888 and 1891...
, Matija Jama
Matija Jama
Matija Jama was a Slovene painter. Together with Rihard Jakopič, Ivan Grohar and Matej Sternen, he is considered among the best representatives of Impressionism in the Slovene Lands.- Life :...
and Ivan Grohar himself, exhibited in the Mietke gallery in Vienna as the artists’ club Sava. They enjoyed great success and sold several paintings. Later, Grohar exhibited in the Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Krakow
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
, Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Trieste
Trieste
Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city...
, Duino
Duino
Duino is a town at the Adriatic coast in the municipality of Duino-Aurisina, part of the region of Friuli – Venezia Giulia in the province of Trieste, north-eastern Italy....
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and elsewhere. Despite this, he always had financial difficulties. In 1911, after interventions of the politician Janez Evangelist Krek
Janez Evangelist Krek
Janez Evangelist Krek was a Slovene Christian Socialist politician, priest, journalist and author.He was born in a peasant family in the village of Sveti Gregor , in what was then the Austrian Empire. His father died when he was a child...
and the painter Rihard Jakopič, the Sorica
Spodnja Sorica
Spodnja Sorica is a village in the Železniki municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.It is the birthplace of the Slovene Impressionist painter Ivan Grohar. The house in which he was born stands in the middle of the village and holds a small collection of items associated with Grohar...
municipal council granted him 2000 crowns for a study trip to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. He then went to Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
in order to buy everything that he would need for the trip, but he was so afflicted by illness, which he had been keeping secret, that he was delivered to the state hospital in Ljubljana, where he died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
. He left behind a series of priceless artworks and a number of debts, which Rihard Jakopič settled for him. Jakopič was preparing his sixth artists’ exhibition in his artists’ pavilion, which was dedicated to the memory of Ivan Grohar.
Grohar began his career as a painter of religious images, but continued it as a realist. He was influenced by Giovanni Segantini
Giovanni Segantini
Giovanni Segantini was an Italian painter known for his large pastoral landscapes of the Alps. He was one of the most famous artists in Europe in the late 19th century, and his paintings were collected by major museums. In later life he combined a Divisionist painting style with Symbolist images...
. From summer 1900 onwards, he painted using symbolic elements, but later he embraced impressionism.
In 1926, a memorial exhibition was held in his honour. He had a great influence on later artists and his picture “Sejalec” (“the sower”) was adopted by the Semenarna Ljubljana and the Sorica tourist association. Every year, an artists’ colony is held in his honour in Škofja Loka.
The Sejalec is depicted on the Slovenian 5 cent euro coin
Slovenian euro coins
Slovenian euro coins were first issued for circulation on 1 January 2007 and a unique feature is designed for each coin. The design of approximately 230 million Slovenian euro coins was unveiled on 7 October 2005. The designers were Miljenko Licul, Maja Licul and Janez Boljka...
(2007).
His most important works were:
- Brna (1899)
- Srce Jezusovo (1900)
- Pod Koprivnikom (1902)
- Rafolško polje (1903)
- Pomlad (1903)
- Macesen (1904)
- Škofja Loka v snegu (1905)
- Sejalec (1907)
- Krompir (1909/1910)
- Mož z vozom (1910)
- Črednik (1910)