(Rečica ob Savinji, 13.6.1930 - Ljubljana, 1.2.2013)
Anton Dolenc was a Slovenian doctor and forensic medicine specialist. In his free time, he liked to paint and write poetry. Both art and medicine accompanied him from the early years of his life. Anton's father was a sculptor, carver and gilder who studied at the Ljubljana School of Crafts. There he was taught strict principles, according to which he created until the end. He encouraged his son to redraw painting templates when he was five years old. This trained Anton to be a good draftsman. His mother, who was a midwife, directed him to study medicine.
During his school years, he moved to the Ivan Cankar Home in Ljubljana, where he met young poets such as Janez Menart, Lojze Kovačič and Dane Zajc, as well as other creative people. He was appointed illustrator of the newspaper Mi mladi, which was published as the bulletin of the school. Although his peers noticed Dolenč's skills and desire to engage in art and poetry, due to social hardship, he chose to study medicine. He graduated in 1957 in Ljubljana and soon became the head of the Institute of Pathology and Forensic Medicine. Although he was extremely respected in the profession, he always insisted on painting. He developed his own recognizable style, which is characterized primarily by monumental figural art. His colour palette is not uniform but also changed throughout the different phases of the artist's life. It depended mainly on his mood. In some works, vivid colours prevail, while in others a calmer and darker colour spectrum dominates.
Dolenč's world of motifs is diverse and rich. He most often looked at life by the sea. He painted fishermen and boats, mothers with children, views of cities and the seaside landscape, which is slowly losing its originality and approaching an urban environment. Sometimes he also presented social issues through his work, with which he wanted to address the audience. By painting in his free time, he overcame hardships and answered many questions that accompanied him daily during his hard labor. His specialty is oversized hands and heads that are too small compared to the realistic proportions of the figures, which emphasized the expressiveness of the depicted. In 1966, he was accepted into the Society of Slovenian Fine Artists.
His talent was confirmed by other Slovenian artists such as Didek, Sedej, Mihelič and Jakac. Anton Dolenc has participated in several solo and group exhibitions at home and abroad. He has received several awards in the field of medicine, and was also respected among Slovenian fine artists. In 2010, he also published a poetry collection, Harp in A minor, in which he collected 150 of the best poems.
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Anton Dolenc je bil slovenski zdravnik in specialist za sodno medicino. V prostem času je rad slikal in pisal poezijo. Tako umetnost kot tudi medicina sta ga spremljali že od zgodnjih let njegovega življenja. Antonov oče je bil podobar, rezbar in pozlatar, ki se je šolal na Ljubljanski obrtni šoli. Tam so ga izučili strogih načel, po katerih je ustvarjal do konca. Svojega sina je že pri dopolnjenem petem letu starosti spodbujal, naj prerisuje slikarske predloge. S tem se je Anton izuril za dobrega risarja. V študij medicine ga je usmerila mama, ki se je ukvarjala z babištvom.
V času dijaških let se je naselil v Dom Ivana Cankarja v Ljubljano, kjer se je srečal z mladimi pesniki kot npr. Janezom Menartom, Lojzetom Kovačičem in Danetom Zajcem ter drugimi ustvarjalci. Določili so ga za ilustratorja časopisa Mi mladi, ki je izhajal kot glasilo dijaškega doma. Čeprav so vrstniki opazili Dolenčeve spretnosti in željo po ukvarjanju z umetnostjo in poezijo, se je zaradi socialne stiske raje odločil za študij medicine. Zaključil ga je leta 1957 v Ljubljani in kmalu postal predstojnik inštituta za patologijo in sodno medicino. Čeprav je bil izjemno cenjen v stroki, je vselej vztrajal pri slikanju. Izoblikoval je svoj lastno prepoznaven slog, za katerega je značilna predvsem monumentalna figuralika.
Njegova barvna paleta ni enotna ampak se je skozi različne faze ustvarjalčevega življenja tudi spreminjala. Odvisna je predvsem od njegovega razpoložena. V nekaterih delih prevladujejo žive barve, pri drugih pa dominira umirjen in bolj temačen barvni spekter. Dolenčev motivni svet je raznolik in bogat. Največkrat se je zazrl v življenje ob morju. Slikal je ribiče in čolne, matere z otroki, vedute mest in obmorsko krajino, ki počasi izgublja prvinskost in se približuje urbanemu okolju. Kdaj je preko del predstavil tudi družbeno problematiko, s katero je želel nagovoriti občinstvo. S slikanjem v prostem času je prebrodil stiske in si odgovoril na številna vprašanja, ki so ga vsakodnevno spremljala pri težaškem delu. Njegova posebnost so predimenzionirane roke in premajhne glave glede na realne proporce figur, s čimer je poudaril ekspresivnost upodobljencev. Leta 1966 so ga sprejeli v Društvo slovenskih likovnih umetnikov.
Njegov talent so potrdili drugi slovenski umetniki kot npr.: Didek, Sedej, Mihelič in Jakac. Anton Dolenc je večkrat sodeloval na samostojnih in skupinskih razstavah doma in v tujini. Prejel je več odlikovanj na področju medicine, cenjen pa je bil tudi med slovenskimi likovnimi umetniki. Leta 2010 je izdal tudi pesniško zbirko Harfa v molu, v kateri je zbral 150 najboljših pesmi.
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:
Matija BLAGOJEVIČ, Dolenc, Anton (1930-2013), Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin, Kranj 2020, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/dolenc-anton/ (29.8.2024).
Anton Dolenc (1930-2013), Galerija Lek, 5.7.2005, https://lek.si/sl/o-nas/predstavitev-druzbe/galerija-lek-arhiv/dolenc/ (20.8.2024).
Tomaž ROTT, Dolenc Anton (1930-2013), Isis, XXII/3, Ljubljana 2013.
Mož mnogih talentov, Vzajemnost, marec 2010, https://www.vzajemnost.si/clanek/168981/moz-mnogih-talentov/ (3.12.2024).
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