(Kamnik, 21.2.1877-Ljubljana, 11.1.1943)
Ivan Vavpotič was an excellent portraitist, illustrator and scenographer who worked at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and up to the middle of the latter. He initially received his art education in Prague, where he studied painting at the local academy between 1897 and 1899. He was trained in the style of academic realism, which was still alive in official art circles at that time. The guidelines from the Prague Academy accompanied him throughout his creative career. At the beginning, he incorporated many Art Nouveau accents into his works, which he became familiar with during a visit to Paris. In the French capital, he briefly attended the École des Beaux-Arts and the École du Louvre. He also went to the workshop of the Czech artist Alfonso Mucha, whom he knew from Prague.
In Paris, he was particularly impressed by the works of the French Impressionists, who somewhat softened the hard academic style, but he later returned to trained realism. His studies took him to Vienna, and from there to Prague again, where he also taught drawing for a while. During the First World War, Vavpotič worked as a war painter. He gradually created his own recognizable style, dominated by realism. Despite the fact that the artist tried to paint according to nature, he greatly satisfied the wishes of the clients in the colour palette. Many times they appear a bit cold with a metallic shine, with which he elevated the artistic motif in his paintings and brought it closer to heavenly beauty. He painted mostly in oil, but some pastels have also been preserved. In the period between the two wars, he established himself as the most desirable portraitist in Slovenia, which opened the door to the most elite society in Ljubljana. In his oeuvre, we also find still lifes, landscapes, allegories, histories and paintings with religious motifs, but there are far fewer of them than full-length or full-length portraits. He was also an excellent draftsman and produced quite a few book illustrations, advertising posters and diplomas. His drawing was extremely accurate and he influenced many younger artists with it. In addition to the Šubic brothers, Vavpotič contributed to the revival of technique in our country.
Between 1026 and 1929, he also tried his hand at making sets for the National Theater in Ljubljana. He created the entire stage scene, which he treated as an autonomous space and prepared the construction for it. Ever since the historical avant-gardes appeared, artists have taken great pleasure in designing scenographies, as they presented themselves to the widest possible audience. Among Slovenian creators, he created the most stage sets, and he also published discussions about art several times. Throughout his life, he actively participated in exhibitions in European capitals. After the artist's death, a large retrospective was held in Ljubljana to pay tribute to Vavpotič's extraordinary creativity.
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Ivan Vavpotič je bil odličen portretist, ilustrator in scenograf, ki je ustvarjal na prelomu 19. v 20. stoletje in vse do sredine slednjega. Likovno izobrazbo je sprva dobil v Pragi, kjer je med 1897 in 1899 študiral slikarstvo na lokalni akademiji. Izučil se je v slogu akademskega realizma, ki je bil v tem času še živo prisoten v uradnih umetnostnih krogih. Smernice s praške akademije so ga spremljale skozi celotno ustvarjalno kariero. Na začetku je v svoja dela vključil številne secesijske poudarke, s katerimi se je seznanil med obiskom Pariza. V francoski prestolnici je kratek čas obiskoval École des Beaux-Arts in École du Louvre. Zahajal je tudi v delavnico češkega umetnika Alfonsa Muche, katerega je poznal že iz Prage.
V Parizu so ga navdušila predvsem dela francoskih impresionistov, ki so nekoliko omehčala trdo akademsko potezo pa vendar se je kasneje vrnil k izučenemu realizmu. Študijska pot ga je zanesla še proti Dunaju, od tam pa zopet v Prago, kjer je nekaj časa tudi poučeval risanje. V času prve svetovne vojne je Vavpotič deloval kot vojni slikar. Postopoma je izoblikoval lastno prepoznaven stil, v katerem dominira realizem. Kljub temu, da si je umetnik prizadeval slikati po naravi je v barvni paleti močno ugodil želji naročnikov. Večkrat delujejo nekoliko hladno s kovinskim sijajem, s čimer je v svojih slikah povzdignil likovni motiv in ga približal nebeški lepoti. Največ je slikal v olju, nekaj pa se je ohranilo tudi pastelov. V času med obema vojnama se je uveljavil kot najbolj zaželen portretist na slovenskem, s čimer so se mu odprla vrata do najbolj elitne družbe v Ljubljani. V njegovem opusu najdemo še tihožitja, krajine, alegorije, histrorije in slike z nabožnimi motivi, a je teh precej manj kot pa celopostavnih ali dopasnih portretov. Bil je tudi izjemen risar in je izdelal kar nekaj knjižnih ilustracij, reklamnih plakatov ter diplom. Njegova risba je bila izjemno natančna in je z njo vplival na številne mlajše umetnike. Poleg bratov Šubic je Vavpotič pripomogel k preporodu tehnike pri nas.
Med 1026 in 1929 se je preizkusil tudi v izdelovanju scenografij za Narodno gledališče v Ljubljani. Ustvaril je celotno odrsko prizorišče, ki ga je obravnaval kot avtonomen prostor in zanj pripravil konstrukcijo. Vse odkar so se pojavile zgodovinske avantgarde so umetniki z velikim zadovoljstvom oblikovali scenografije, saj so se z njimi predstavili kar najširšemu občintvu. Med slovenskimi ustvarjalci je prav on izdelal največ odrskih postavitev, večkrat pa je objavil tudi razprave o umetnosti. Skozi vse življenje se je aktivno udeleževal razstav v evropskih prestolnicah. Po umetnikovi smrti so mu v Ljubljani priredili veliko retrospektivo na kateri so se poklonili Vavpotičevi izjemni ustvarjalnosti.
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:
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Vavpotič, Ivan, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col. 2222.
Stane MIKUŽ, s. v. Vavpotič, Ivan, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 4, Zagreb 1966, p. 499
Barbara RAVNIKAR, s. v. Scenografija, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, Ljubljana 2009, pp. 242-250.
France STELE, Slovenski slikarji, Ljubljana 1949, pp. 157-158.
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