Zoran Didek

(Ljubljana, 11.6.1910 - Ljubljana, 27.10.1975)

Zoran Rudolf Didek was a Slovenian painter, designer and art teacher. From 1928 until his graduation in 1933, he studied at the Academy in Zagreb. There he met the artist Smiljana Ivančić, whom he married. He worked as a drawing professor in Ljubljana, Zagreb and Belgrade. In the first phase of his work, he became close to the poetic realists. For them, the essential message was conveyed by the colour, which they chose based on their own experience of the motif.

They coordinated the tones in the painting with each other, thereby trying to preserve the tonal modeling of objects. This was a characteristic orientation of the Zagreb School. Before World War II, he was stylistically involved mainly in realism, while later he positively accepted abstraction. After returning to Ljubljana, he joined the Independent Artists' Club. His oeuvre includes several portraits and self-portraits, which he designed according to the principle of caricature. He also painted still lifes, nudes and landscapes. He drew inspiration for it from his native Dolenjska environment, which he loved to visit throughout his life.

He also created several monumental paintings for public spaces, but these are mostly lost today due to socialist motives. Regardless of the fact that most of his artworks do not cover the topic of World War II, it still had a strong influence on the artist. In order to distance himself from the dark past, he created the series V Internacion (Into the Internment) in several phases, where he focused on the forced deportation of people. Didek was not only a skilled visual artist, but also tried his hand at numerous other tasks. Between 1952 and 1955, he designed several NOB monuments. These are somewhat different from the rest, as he included the sculptures of his colleagues in some of them. Like Smiljana, Zoran was an exceptional draftsman. He also illustrated books several times and undertook conceptual designs for glass, ceramic and goldsmithing production. Together with Stane Jarm, he designed the National Heroes Park in Kočevje.

In 1946, on the recommendation of Stane Mikuž, he began lecturing at the School of Arts and Crafts in Ljubljana. He undertook extensive discussions about art and laid the foundations of art theory. He was interested in it primarily from a morphological perspective. His texts were also used to teach art to young people. In 1967, he became a full professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. There, he taught students about the small and large nude and exhibited his works together with his painting colleagues at home and abroad. He collaborated several times with the Association of Slovenian Fine Artists, which organised annual regular exhibitions. Since 1995, a collection of his fundamental works has been on display in Kostanjevica na Krki. During his rich artistic career, he received numerous awards that testify to Didek's creativity. A year before his death, he received the Prešeren Award for Lifetime Achievement.

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Zoran Rudolf Didek je bil slovenski slikar, oblikovalec in likovni pedagog. Od leta 1928 pa do končane diplome 1933 je študiral na akademiji v Zagrebu. Tam je spoznal umetnico Smiljano Ivančić s katero se je tudi poročil. Deloval je kot profesor risanja v Ljubljani, Zagrebu in Beogradu. V prvi fazi ustvarjanja se je približal poetičnim realistom. Zanje je bistveno sporočilnost nosila barva, ki so jo izbrali na podlagi lastnega doživljanja motiva.

Tone v sliki so medsebojno usklajevali s čimer so skušali ohraniti tonsko modelacijo predmetov. To je bila značilna usmeritev zagrebške šole. Pred drugo svetovno vojno je bil slogovno vpet predvsem v realizem, med tem ko je kasneje pozitivno sprejel abstrakcijo. Po vrnitvi v Ljubljano se je pridružil klubu Neodvisnih likovnih umetnikov. V njegovem opusu je več portretov in avtoportretov, ki jih je oblikoval po principu karikature. Slikal je tudi tihožitja, akte in krajino. Navdih zanjo je črpal v domačem dolenjskem okolju, v katerega je rad zahajal skozi vse življenje.

Izdelal je tudi nekaj monumentalnih poslikav za javne prostore a so te zaradi socialističnih motivov danes večinoma izgubljene. Ne glede na to, da večina njegovih umetnin ne obsega tematike 2. svetovne vojne, je ta vseeno močno vplivala na umetnika. Da bi se oddaljil od mračne preteklosti, je v več fazah izdelal serijo V Internacijo, kjer je v ospredju obravnaval prisilno deportacijo ljudi. Didek ni bil le spreten likovni umetnik ampak se je preizkusil tudi v številnih drugih nalogah. Med 1952 in 1955 je zasnoval nekaj NOB spomenikov. Ti so nekoliko drugačni od preostalih, saj je pri nekaj izmed teh vključil kiparska dela svojih kolegov. Tako kot Smiljana, je bil Zoran izjemen risar. Večkrat je tudi ilustriral knjige in se lotil idejnih zasnov za steklarsko, keramično in zlatarsko proizvodnjo. Skupaj s Stanetom Jarmom sta oblikovala Park narodnih herojev v Kočevju.

Leta 1946 je na priporočilo Staneta Mikuža pričel predavati na Šoli za umetno obrt v Ljubljani. Lotil se je obširnih razprav o umetnosti in postavil temelje likovne teorije. Zanimala ga je predvsem iz morfološkega stališča. Z njegovimi besedili so o umetnosti poučevali tudi mladino. Leta 1967 je postal redni profesor na Akademiji za likovno oblikovanje v Ljubljani. Tam je študente poučeval o malem in velikem aktu in skupaj s slikarskimi kolegi razstavljal doma in v tujini. Večkrat je sodeloval z Društvom slovenskih likovnih umetnikov, ki je prirejalo letne redne razstave. Od leta 1995 si je v Kostanjevici na Krki možno ogledati zbirko njegovih temeljnih del. V svoji bogati umetnostni karieri je prejel številne nagrade, ki pričajo o Didkovi ustvarjalnosti. Leto pred smrtjo je prejel Prešernovo nagrado za življenjsko delo.

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:
Manuela DAJNKO, s. v. Didek, Zoran (1910-1975), Novi slovenski biografski leksikon, Ur. Petra Vide Ogrin, Ljubljana 2013-2022, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi1024070/ (24.6.2024).
Karel DEŽMAN, s. v. Didek, Zoran, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 2, Zagreb 1962, p. 43.
Petra KAPŠ, s. v. Likovna kritika in umetnostna teorija, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, Ljubljana 2009, pp. 153-163.
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Didek, Zoran, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col. 476.
Jože MUHOVIČ-Barbara RUPEL, Zoran Didek: 1910-1975, Kostanjevica na Krki 2000.
Donovan PAVLINEC, s. v. Socialistični realizem, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, Ljubljana 2009, pp. 262-268.