Fran Tratnik

(Potok, 11.6.1881– Ljubljana, 10.4.1957)

Fran Tratnik represents one of the first Slovenian expressionists. He was engaged in painting, caricature and drawing. His artistic talent was expressed already during elementary school. At that time, his family enrolled him in an art course with the painter Ivan Gosar. Further education was made possible by his father, who in 1898 provided enough funds for the young Tratnik to go to Prague and enroll at the academy a year later. He attended it until 1901. Due to financial difficulties in the family, he was prevented from further education abroad. He returned home, and soon after continued his studies in Vienna. Slovenian artists who belonged to the Vesna club were in a hurry at that time in the Austrian capital. Their works of art were more nationally coloured and did not have a particular influence on Tratnik.

He directed his artistic expression more towards European expressionism, with which he got to know in even more detail at his next stop, in Munich. In a new environment, he met Anton Ažbe. The latter helped him financially and ensured that Tratnik could attend the Kunstverein in 1905. He sold most of the exhibited paintings to an acquaintance of Ažbet's, which was an important source of income for Tratnik to survive. During this time, he sent his caricatures and drawings to satirical newspapers such as Munich Zeitung. He continued this type of work in Prague, where they were published in the newspaper Zlata Praga. After a short stay in the Czech Republic, he returned to Ljubljana in 1907. He was excused from the army due to ill health and travelled to a health resort in Enzenbach. After returning to Ljubljana, he was shocked by the crowds of refugees from the coast who were coming to the capital from exile. This made such a strong impression on him that he dedicated the entire cycle "The Refugees" to this topic. Most of the works of art were created in the 20s and 30s. At that time, he was also involved in cultural and artistic societies, and in 1952 he received the Prešeren Prize for his life's work.

When he painted in the oil technique, he is stylistically closest to the interplay between impressionism and expressionism. Tratnik's figures already point the way towards a new reality and in their essence refer to social issues. Through his art, Tratnik alerted society to the misery and suffering and horrors caused by the war. In them we can feel a strong pain and a call for immediate change. During his painting career, he went through several creative phases. The first phase is characterized by a bent gesture that conveys a message to the viewer. Later it goes into tonal modeling with black and white tones. It was only after contact with the Impressionists that he developed his artistic language, in which he added muted colors to the black scheme. The focus of the action is no longer social misery, but he focused on lyrical themes and the display of longing and devotion. Among his most famous works are his caricatures, which he made in various techniques. He drew with ink, pen, charcoal, chalk, pastels and graphite. He actively participated in all art exhibitions to which he was accepted. He mostly exhibited in a group, and his paintings occupied all important European centers. He left more than 250 works in his diverse oeuvre. Most of them are abroad, as the artist was torn between Prague, Munich and Vienna throughout his life, and some of them were taken from Ljubljana during the occupation.

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Fran Tratnik predstavlja enega prvih slovenskih ekspresionistov. Ukvarjal se je s slikarstvom, karikaturo in risanjem. Njegov umetniški talent se je izrazil že tekom osnovne šole. Takrat so ga domači vpisali na likovni tečaj k podobarju Ivanu Gosarju. Nadaljnjo izobrazbo mu je omogočil oče, ki je leta 1898 priskrbel dovolj sredstev, da se je mladi Tratnik lahko napotil proti Pragi in se leto kasneje tudi vpisal na akademijo. Obiskoval jo je do leta 1901. Zaradi finančne stiske v družini mu je bilo nadaljnje izobraževanje v tujini onemogočeno. Vrnil se je domov, nato pa je kmalu po tem nadaljeval s študijem na Dunaju. V avstrijski prestolnici so se takrat mudili slovenski umetniki, ki so pripadali klubu Vesna. Njihova umetniška dela so bila bolj nacionalno obarvana in na Tratnika niso imela posebnega vpliva.

Likovni izraz je usmeril bolj proti evropskemu ekspresionizmu, s katerim se je še bolj podrobno seznanil na naslednji postojanki, v Münchnu. V novem okolju je spoznal Antona Ažbeta. Ta mu je finančno pomagal in zagotovil, da se je Tratnik lahko udeležil Kunstvereina leta 1905. Večino razstavljenih slik je prodal Ažbetovemu znancu, kar je za Tratnika predstavljalo pomemben vir dohodka za preživetje. V tem času je svoje karikature in risbe pošiljal v satirične časopise kot npr. Münchner zeitung. S tovrstnim delom je nadaljeval tudi v Pragi tam pa so jih objavili v časopisu Zlata Praga. Po kratkem bivanju na češkem, se je leta 1907 vrnil v Ljubljano. Zaradi slabega zdravja je bil oproščen vojske in odpotoval je v zdravilišče v Enzenbach. Po vrnitvi v Ljubljano so ga pretresle množice beguncev iz primorske, ki so zaradi izgnanstva prihajali v prestolnico. To ga je tako močno zaznamovalo, da je celoten cikel Begunci posvetil prav tej tematiki. Največ umetnin je nastalo v 20 in 30ih letih. Takrat se je udejstvoval tudi v kulturno umetniških društvih, leta 1952 pa je za življenjsko delo prejel Prešernovo nagrado.

Kadar je slikal v oljni tehniki je slogovno najbližje prepletu med impresionizmom in ekspresionizmom. Tratnikove figure že kažejo pot proti novi stvarnosti in se v svojem bistvu sklicujejo na socialno tematiko. Preko svoje umetnosti je Tratnik družbo opozoril na bedo in trpljenje ter grozote, ki jih je povzročila vojna. V njih lahko začutimo močno bolečino in poziv k hipni spremembi. Tekom slikarske kariere je prešel skozi več faz ustvarjanja. Za prvo fazo je značilna upognjena poteza, s katero gledalcu posreduje sporočilo. Kasneje preide v tonsko modelacijo s črno belimi toni. Šele ob stiku z impresionisti je razvil svojo likovno govorico, v kateri je črni shemi dodal zamolkle barve. V središču dogajanja ni več socialna beda ampak se je osredotočil na lirične tematike in prikaz hrepenenja ter vdanosti. Med najbolj znana dela sodijo njegove karikature, ki jih je izdela v različnih tehnikah. Risal je s tušem, peresom, ogljem, kredo, pasteli in grafitom. Aktivno se je udeleževal vseh umetniških razstav, na katere je bil sprejet. Večinoma je razstavljal v skupini, njegove slike pa so zavzele vsa pomembna evropska središča. V svojem raznovrstnem opusu je zapustil več kot 250 del. Večna jih je v tujini, saj je bil umetnik skozi vse življenje razpet med Prago, Münchnom in Dunajem, nekaj pa jih je bilo za časa okupacije odpeljanih iz Ljubljane.

The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history/Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.

SOURCES/VIRI:
Špelca ČOPIČ, Slovensko slikarstvo, Ljubljana 1966.
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Tratnik, Fran, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
coll. 2165.
Melita STELE-MOŽINA, s. v. Tratnik, Fran, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 4, Zagreb 1966, p. 447.
Asta ZNIDARČIČ, s. v. Tratnik, Fran (1881-1957), Slovenski biografski leksikon, zv. 12 Taborska - Trtnik, Ljubljana 1980, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi716937/ (3.6.2024).