(Ljubljana, 28.11.1910-Ljubljana, 1996)
France Godec was a Slovenian painter and draftsman who left behind one of the most extensive oeuvres with as many as 25,000 paintings. At first, he studied at the Ljubljana School of Crafts, where he was taught by our great artists, e.g. F. Kralj and G. A Kos. In 1929, he enrolled at the painting academy in Zagreb and became acquainted with other Slovenian artists, e.g. Mušič, Omersa, Pregelj and Sedej, with whom they attended the pedagogical institution together.
At first, France Godec devoted himself to sculpture, but then he became more and more interested in fine art. He showed artistic talent early in his youth, so his parents allowed him to be taught drawing at home by Rudolf Čapara. At the beginning of his work, he was mainly interested in roosters, but later he also included landscapes, genre scenes and nudes, and portraits in his set of artistic motifs. Most of his works are depictions of nature. In his free time, he loved to go there and made many sketches in the field, which helped him in painting in the studio. He supplemented the green plateaus and mountain vistas with hayfields, mills and other features typical of the Slovenian landscape. His artistic expression is dominated by calm compositions that reflect Godec's attitude towards the world around him. In them, he did not define current political or social issues, but rather focused on the optimistic and intimate feeling of encountering his art. He created in oil and gouache. Godek's colour palette relies on Fauvist colour in many shades, but the whole is much more tonally unified.
On the canvases, he played with glowing and muted shades, and he also combined cold with warm. He layered the colours one after the other in thin layers, and by shifting the contrasts he achieved a much greater picturesqueness. Regardless of the fact that Godec followed modern art with a watchful eye, in his individual expression he preferred to avoid more radical interventions in canvases. During his travels abroad, he got acquainted with various art movements, e.g. with increasingly popular expressionism or cubism, however, he remained faithful to his guidelines.
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France Godec je bil slovenski slikar in risar, ki je za seboj pustil enega najobsežnejših opusov s kar 25.000 slikami. Sprva se je šolal na Ljubljanski šoli za umetno obrt, kjer so ga poučevali naši veliki umetniki npr. F. Kralj in G. A Kos. Leta 1929 se je vpisal na slikarsko akademijo v Zagrebu in se seznanil z drugimi slovenskimi umetniki npr. Mušičem, Omerso, Pregljem in Sedejem, s katerimi so skupaj obiskovali pedagoško institucijo.
Sprva se je France Godec posvetil kiparstvu nato pa se je vse bolj začel zanimati za likovno umetnost. Že zgodaj v mladosti je pokazal umetniški talent, zato so mu starši omogočili, da ga je risanje v domačem okolju poučeval Rudolf Čapara. Na začetku ustvarjanja se je zanimal predvsem za peteline, kasneje pa je v nabor likovnih motivov vključil še krajine, žanrske prizore in akte ter portrete. V njegovem opusu je največ upodobitev narave. V prostem času je izjemno rad zahajal vanjo in na terenu izdelal številne skice, ki so mu pomagale pri slikanju v ateljeju. Zelene planote in gorske vedute je dopolnil s kozolci, mlini in drugimi posebnostmi, ki so značilni za slovensko pokrajino. V njegovem likovnem izrazu prevladujejo umirjene kompozicije, ki zrcalijo Godčev odnos do sveta okoli sebe. V njih se ni opredelil do aktualne politične ali socialne tematike ampak je pozornost namenil raje optimističnemu in intimnemu občutenju ob srečanju z njegovo umetnostjo. Ustvarjal je v olju in gvašu. Godčeva barvna paleta se v marsikaterem odtenku opira na fauvistični kolorit, kljub temu pa je celota dosti bolj tonsko poenotena.
Na platnih se je igral z žarečimi in zamolklimi odtenki, kombiniral pa je tudi hladne s toplim. Barve je drugo za drugo plastil v tankih nanosih, s spostavitvijo ko kontrastov pa je dosegel dosti večjo slikovitost. Ne glede na to, da je Godec z budnim očesom spremljal sodobno umetnost, se je v svojem individualnem izrazu raje izognil bolj radikalnim posegom v platna. Med potovanji po tujini se je seznanil z različnimi umetnostnimi tokovi npr. z vedno bolj priljubljenim ekspresionizmom ali kubizmom pa vendar je ostal zvest svojim smernicam.
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:
Emil FRELIH, France Godec – osemdesetletnik, Delo, XXXII/289, 13.12.1990, p. 11.
Niko LAPAJNE, Godec, ki gode na čopič in paleto : obisk pri umetniku, Delo, XXXIII/31, 7.11.1991, p. 10.
Janez MESESNEL, Paraleli in rezultanta, Delo, XXXII/147, 26.6.1990, p. 11.
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