(Ljubljana, 2.11.1902 - 16.5.1996)
Franc Skodlar, or Čoro Škodlar, was a versatile personality who significantly marked Slovenian art of the 20th century with his creations. His friends gave him the nickname Čuri in his youth, because he had dark hair and a slightly darker complexion. The artist perfected his painting skills in various European art centers.
He was engaged in painting and illustration, and occasionally restored works. Later, he also established himself as a journalist and art critic. Between 1921 and 1923, he went to Vienna. There, he attended evening classes in nude painting, which helped him gain a deeper insight into human anatomy. He also continued his career in Munich, which was famous for its rich artistic tradition. Finally, he went to Prague, where he became acquainted with current art trends.
In 1941, Čoro Škodlar joined the Liberation Front (OF). He was recruited to the cultural committee, where he contributed to the preservation and development of Slovenian identity with his creativity. In 1943, he joined the partisans. There he developed a unique artistic language that accompanied him throughout his life. After the end of World War II, he worked on assessing the cultural damage caused by the occupier. He also supervised the federal collection center for artworks, where numerous works of art were received. Franc Skodlar's legacy is dominated by landscapes, especially motifs from Dolenjska. He went there several times with Ferd Vesel to paint the beauty of the Slovenian landscape together. He also dabbled in portraiture and created several larger figurative compositions. One of these was a depiction of Martin Krpan, which adorned the interior of the former Emona café in Ljubljana.
He learned to paint on fresh plaster from Simon Ogrin, one of the leading representatives of the fresco technique in Slovenia. Towards the end of his career, he restored more and more. His ambitious project was the restoration of frescoes in the church in Hrastovlje, which had been almost completely forgotten before his intervention. He also restored oil paintings in museums and galleries throughout Slovenia. In doing so, he helped preserve Slovenian cultural heritage. When he undertook art criticism, he was reluctant to identify with the formalist movement of art. He believed that these had a negative impact on the development of contemporary painting and partisan graphics.
He was also reluctant to accept Slovenian impressionism, which he also perceived as problematic in the system. Although Skodlar was actively involved in all cultural fields, he rarely presented his works at art exhibitions. Art did not hold a higher meaning for him, but served to explore the technological aspects of painting. With his contribution, he had a significant impact on the development of Slovenian artistic expression and on the preservation and appreciation of Slovenian artistic heritage.
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Franc Skodlar, oz. Čoro Škodlar, je bil vsestransko podkovana osebnost, ki je svojim ustvarjanjem pomembno zaznamovala slovensko umetnost 20. stoletja. Vzdevek Čuri so mu prijatelji nadeli v mladosti, saj je imel temne lase in nekoliko temnejšo polt. Svoje slikarske veščine je umetnik izpopolnil v različnih evropskih umetniških središčih.
Ukvarjal se je s slikanjem in ilustracijo, občasno pa je tudi restavriral. Kasneje se je uveljavil tudi kot časnikar in likovni kritik. Med letoma 1921 in 1923 se je odpravil na Dunaj. Tam je obiskoval večerne tečaje slikanja akta, s pomočjo katerih je prejel poglobljen uvid v človeško anatomijo. Karierno pot je nadaljeval tudi v München, ki je slovel po bogati umetniški tradiciji. Naposled se je odpravil še v Prago, kjer se je seznanil z aktualnimi tokovi umetnosti.
Leta 1941 se je Čoro Škodlar pridružil Osvobodilni fronti (OF). Angažirali so ga v kulturni odbor, kjer je s svojo ustvarjalnostjo prispeval k ohranitvi in razvoju slovenske identitete. Leta 1943 se je pridružil partizanom. Tam je razvil edinstven likovni jezik, ki ga je spremljal skozi vse življenje. Po koncu druge svetovne vojne se je ukvarjal z ocenjevanjem kulturne škode, ki jo je povzročil okupator. Nadzoroval je tudi federalni zbirni center za umetnine, kamor so prihajala številna likovna dela. V zapuščini Franca Skodlarja prevladujejo krajine, predvsem motivi z Dolenjske. Tja se je večkrat odpravil s Ferdom Veselom, da sta skupaj slikala lepoto slovenske krajine. Ukvarjal se je tudi s portretiranjem in izdelal nekaj večjih figuralnih kompozicij. Ena takšnih je bila upodobitev Martina Krpana, ki je krasila notranjost nekdanje kavarne Emona v Ljubljani.
Slikanja na svež omet se je priučil pri Simonu Ogrinu, enemu vodilnih predstavnikov fresco tehnike na Slovenskem. Proti koncu kariere je vse več restavriral. Njegov velikopotezni projekt je bila obnova fresk v cerkvi v Hrastovljah, ki so bile pred njegovo intervencijo skoraj povsem pozabljene. Restavriral je tudi oljne slike v muzejih in galerijah po vsej Sloveniji. S tem je pomagal ohraniti slovensko kulturno dediščino. Kadar se je lotil umetnostne kritike, se je z zadržkom opredelil do formalističnega toka umetnosti. Menil je, da ti negativno vplivajo na razvoj sodobnega slikarstva in partizanske grafike.
Zadržan je bil tudi do slovenskega impresionizma, ki ga je prav tako dojemal kot težavnega v sistemu. Čeprav je bil Skodlar aktivno vpet na vsem kulturnem področju, se je le malokdaj s svojimi deli predstavil na umetnostni razstavi. Umetnost zanj ni nosila višjega pomena ampak je služila raziskovanju tehnoloških vidikov slikarstva. S svojim prispevkom je pomembno vplival na razvoj slovenskega umetniškega izraza ter na ohranjanje in vrednotenje slovenske umetnostne dediščine.
Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.
The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history
SOURCES/VIRI:
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Karel DEŽMAN, s. v. Škodlar, Čoro, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 4, Zagreb 1966,
p. 369. - Donovan PAVLINEC, s. v. Socialistični realizem, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, pp. 262-268.
- Uredništvo, s. v. Škodlar, Čoro (1902- 1966), Slovenska biografija, 2013, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi654922/ (19.1.2025).
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