(Škofja Loka, 29.5.1906 - Škofja Loka, 29.9.1939)
France Košir was a Slovenian artist who was primarily interested in depicting the Slovenian landscape. Already at a young age, he participated in the art organization Probuda, where he was guided on the path to creativity by Saša Šantel and Lojze Repič in particular.
After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the sculpture department of the Technical School in Ljubljana. There, he obtained the title of creator in wood and stone in 1923, and then continued his education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. He was taught by leading Croatian artists and educators, among whom Tomislav Krizman and Ljubo Babić were particularly responsible for his artistic development. The school's main focus was French modern art, known as the École de Paris, with which they tried to familiarize all students of the Zagreb Academy.
After completing his education, he returned to his homeland. He mostly worked as an art teacher at several high schools, but he also devoted some time to painting. He was a well-trained academic artist who left behind only a few works. He had a relatively short career, as he left us at the age of thirty-three due to an incurable illness at the time. His most important works are the result of the 1930s. In them, the guidelines of the then popular new reality are particularly noticeable, with which he achieved a convincing plasticity of the depicted figures. In style, he remained faithful to the practices of the academic environment and in the thirties he upgraded it with lighter shades or resorted to strong colours. He never painted with pasty layers of paint on the canvas, but preferred to stay within the framework of thin and clearly thought-out lines. Images of the Slovenian landscape predominate in his oeuvre. He was fascinated by the Slovenian places between Ptuj and Škofja Loka. He painted them with a respectful attitude towards the surroundings and regional peculiarities.
Quite a few works reveal a view of the Sora River, which the artist knew from his home environment. In addition to the oil technique, he often used watercolor, with the help of which he achieved expressionistic images with a rich and iridescent color scale. In them, he moved somewhat away from the realistic state of nature, as he endowed them with a more dramatic and vivid tonal scale. He also drew and made prints on several occasions. He participated in numerous group exhibitions in Ljubljana, within the Jakopič Pavilion. He also presented his works together with members of the Lada Art Club, which was formed by Slovenian and Belgrade artists.
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France Košir je bil slovenski likovni umetnik, ki se je zanimal predvsem za upodabljanje slovenske krajine. Že v mladih letih je sodeloval v umetniški organizaciji Probuda, kjer sta ga na pot k ustvarjanju usmerila predvsem Saša Šantel in Lojze Repič.
Po končani gimnaziji, se je vpisal na kiparski oddelek Tehniške šole v Ljubljani. Tam je leta 1923 pridobil naziv ustvarjalca v lesu in kamnu, nato pa je izobraževanje nadaljeval na likovni akademiji v Zagrebu. Poučevali so ga vodilni hrvaški umetniki in pedagogi, med katerimi sta bila za njegov umetnostni razvoj še posebej zaslužna Tomislav Krizman in Ljubo Babić. Glavni fokus šole je bila francoska moderna umetnost, poznana kot École de Paris, s katero so skušali seznaniti vse študente zagrebške akademije.
Po končanem izobraževanju se je vrnil v domovino. Večinoma je deloval kot likovni pedagog na več srednjih šolah, nekaj časa pa je posvetil tudi slikanju. Bil je dobro izučen akademski umetnik, ki je za seboj pustil le malo del. Imel je relativno kratko kariero, saj nas je zaradi tedaj neozdravljive bolezni zapustil v starosti triintridesetih let. Njegova najpomembnejša dela so rezultat tridesetih let 20. stoletja. V teh so opazne predvsem smernice takrat priljubljene nove stvarnosti, s katerimi je dosegel prepričljivo plastičnost upodobljenih figur. V slogu je ostal zvest praksam iz akademskega okolja in ga je v tridesetih letih nadgradil s svetlejšimi odtenki ali pa je posegel po močnem koloritu. Nikoli ni slikal s pastoznimi nanosi barve na platno, ampak je raje ostal v okviru tenkih in jasno premišljenih linij. V njegovem opusu prevladujejo predvsem podobe slovenske krajine. Navduševali so ga slovenski kraji med Ptujem in Škofjo Loko. Te je naslikal s spoštljivim odnosom do okolice in regionalnih posebnosti.
Kar nekaj del odstira pogled na reko Soro, ki jo je umetnik poznal iz domačega okolja. Večkrat je poleg oljne tehnike uporabljal tudi akvarel, s pomočjo katerega je dosegel ekspresionistične podobe z bogato in prelivajočo se barvno skalo. V njih se je nekoliko oddaljil od realnega stanja v naravi, saj jih je podaril z bolj dramatično in živo tonsko lestvico. Večkrat je tudi risal in izdeloval grafike. Sodeloval je na številnih skupinskih razstavah v Ljubljani, v okviru Jakopičevega paviljona. Prav tako je svoja dela predstavljal skupaj s člani umetnostnega Kluba Lada, ki so ga formirali slovenski in beograjski likovni ustvarjalci.
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:
Tine DEBELJAK, Nekrolog, Slovenec LXVII/224, Ljubljana 1939, p. 8.
Karel DOBIDA, K delom Franceta Koširja, Ljubljana 1937, pp. 271.
Mira KALAN, s. v. KOŠIR France (1906-1939), Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin, Kranj 2020, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/oseba/kosir-france/ (12.1.2025).
Andrej PAVLOVEC, Razstava Franceta Koširja v Loškem muzeju, Kranj 1960 XIII/52, p. 5.
Andrej PAVLOVEC, Slikar France Košir, Ob retrospektivni razstavi v Loškem muzeju, Loški razgledi Škof ja Loka 1960, pp. 111-118.
Fran ŠIJANEC, Sodobna slovenska likovna umetnost, Maribor 1961.
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