Matija Jama
Encyclopedia
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
.
, where he attended primary school and lower grammar school. He then moved with his family to Zagreb
, where he began to show an interest in painting when in higher grammar school. After finishing grammar school, he enrolled in the law faculty, but in 1890 he quit his studies and left for Munich
, where he enrolled in a private art school. Two years later, he returned to Ljubljana, where he made a living with his drawings. During this time, he drew illustrations for the journal Dom in svet
.
With the support of the Carniola
n Provincial Diet
, he returned to Munich in 1897, where he enrolled in Anton Ažbe
’s art school. The following year, he enrolled at the Munich artistic academy, but he did not finish his studies there. In 1902, he married the Dutch
painter Luiza van Raders. Jama lived and worked in different places throughout Europe: Austria
, Croatia
, Germany and the Netherlands
. Later, he returned to the Slovene Lands
, where he lived for a while in Bled
and in Volčji Potok
. Finally, he settled in Rašica
and then in Ljubljana.
Besides oil paintings, Jama also drew designs for posters and illustrations. Among others, he illustrated the first editions of several books by the famous modernist writer Ivan Cankar
. His idols in his later life, when he had “grown out” of his secessionist period, were Italian and French impressionists
, amongst whom the most influential was Claude Monet
. In his prime, Jama was essentially a landscape painter. Even the illustrations and commissioned portraits that he produced at the start of his artistic career feature vedute
.
In his later period, Jama worked together with other Slovene impressionists, in particular with Rihard Jakopič
, with whom he worked in Stranska vasa and Kraljevec ob Sotli. It was at this time that Jama began to study light and became a true impressionist. In this last period of Slovene impressionism, he painted first and foremost with aquarelle
, but he gave this up around 1900 and devoted himself to painting using oil on canvas
. He produced the majority of his best-known works with this technique, which he used until the end of his life.
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...
, Ivan Grohar
Ivan Grohar
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.- Life :...
and 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...
, he is considered among the best representatives of Impressionism
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...
in the Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
.
Life
Jama was born in LjubljanaLjubljana
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...
, where he attended primary school and lower grammar school. He then moved with his family 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 began to show an interest in painting when in higher grammar school. After finishing grammar school, he enrolled in the law faculty, but in 1890 he quit his studies and left for 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 enrolled in a private art school. Two years later, he returned to Ljubljana, where he made a living with his drawings. During this time, he drew illustrations for the journal Dom in svet
Dom in svet
Dom in svet was a Catholic cultural and literary journal in Slovenia, published from 1888 to 1943. Its long-running rivalry with the national-liberal journal Ljubljanski zvon was a major feature of Slovenian cultural life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; historian Péter Krasztev...
.
With the support of 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:...
, he returned to Munich in 1897, where he enrolled in 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 art school. The following year, he enrolled at the Munich artistic academy, but he did not finish his studies there. In 1902, he married the Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
painter Luiza van Raders. Jama lived and worked in different places throughout Europe: Austria
Cisleithania
Cisleithania was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status...
, Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, Germany and the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. Later, he returned to the Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands
Slovene Lands or Slovenian Lands is the historical denomination for the whole of the Slovene-inhabited territories in Central Europe. It more or less corresponds to modern Slovenia and the adjacent territories in Italy, Austria and Hungary in which autochthonous Slovene minorities live.-...
, where he lived for a while in Bled
Bled
Bled is a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.-History:...
and in Volčji Potok
Volcji Potok
Volčji Potok is a village on a terrace on the left bank of the river Kamniška Bistrica in the Kamnik municipality in the Upper Carniola region of Slovenia.The local church is dedicated to Saint Oswald....
. Finally, he settled in Rašica
Rašica
Rašica is a village in the municipality of Blace, Serbia. According to the 2002 census, the village has a population of 183 people....
and then in Ljubljana.
Besides oil paintings, Jama also drew designs for posters and illustrations. Among others, he illustrated the first editions of several books by the famous modernist writer Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar
Ivan Cankar was a Slovene writer, playwright, essayist, poet and political activist. Together with Oton Župančič, Dragotin Kette, and Josip Murn, he is considered as the beginner of modernism in Slovene literature...
. His idols in his later life, when he had “grown out” of his secessionist period, were Italian and French impressionists
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...
, amongst whom the most influential was Claude Monet
Claude Monet
Claude Monet was a founder of French impressionist painting, and the most consistent and prolific practitioner of the movement's philosophy of expressing one's perceptions before nature, especially as applied to plein-air landscape painting. . Retrieved 6 January 2007...
. In his prime, Jama was essentially a landscape painter. Even the illustrations and commissioned portraits that he produced at the start of his artistic career feature vedute
Veduta
A veduta is a highly detailed, usually large-scale painting of a cityscape or some other vista....
.
In his later period, Jama worked together with other Slovene impressionists, in particular 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...
, with whom he worked in Stranska vasa and Kraljevec ob Sotli. It was at this time that Jama began to study light and became a true impressionist. In this last period of Slovene impressionism, he painted first and foremost with aquarelle
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
, but he gave this up around 1900 and devoted himself to painting using oil on canvas
Oil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
. He produced the majority of his best-known works with this technique, which he used until the end of his life.
Works
Jama produced some 450 works in his life, amongst which the best-known are:- Pri obedu
- Vrt
- Most
- Vrbe
- Ljubljana v snegu
- Šenklavž
- Hrvaški kmet
- Kolo
- Vas v zimi