(Zagorica pri Dobrepoljah, 26.9.1895 - Ljubljana, 16.2.1960)
France Kralj was one of the main Slovenian artists who dominated the cultural and artistic scene in the 20th century. At first, he was mainly interested in carving, which he learned from his brother Tone and other masters in his home environment.
Later, he devoted himself mainly to painting, sculpture and graphics and produced a large number of representative images for both profane and sacred environments. Between 1909 and 1912, he attended a craft school in Ljubljana. There, he trained in sculpture. He continued his education in Klagenfurt, and in 1919, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy. In the imperial city, he focused on painting, and then continued his education at the academy in Prague. After completing his studies, France returned to Ljubljana.
In 1920, he opened an art studio and, between 1926 and 1945, taught modelling and ran a ceramics school in the city. He is one of the first Slovenian artists to move away from the notorious impressionism and put expressionism at the forefront of his interest. A little later, the new reality prevailed in his expression. At that time, the Royal colors almost unified. They became monochrome in order to achieve greater plasticity. Francet's artistic expression is dominated by monumental figural compositions with an emphasis on form and not content. The depicted figures are so convincing that they seem to reach out from the realistic painting canvas and invite us to look at them. He created them with the help of cylindrical forms and they often approached the sculptural processing of objects. In them, he did not emphasize the individuality of the depicted, but the figures are more than typified.
The paintings are filled to the last detail, which is why they lack airiness and thus create tension between the depicted and the seen. In the set of motifs, he reached into Slovenian folk motifs and the countryside. Like his brother Tone, he also created quite a few sacred paintings. He also painted landscapes, still lifes and portraits, as well as genre motifs from his home surroundings. In his works, Slovenian reality is for the first time presented with dignity towards the working farmer and the countryside, in which tragedy and greatness are reflected. In most of his works, he moved away from optical reality and over-dimensioned the depicted. In this way, he indicated a new path to Slovenian modern art. He also tried his hand at painting on glass and in book illustration.
During the 1930s, France mainly used earthy color shades in order for the artistic material to have the best possible effect on the viewer. These reappeared in the post-war period among the Informel artists. Between the two wars, he established himself with the graphic design of books, but the authorities never accepted him. At that time, he abandoned sculpture and devoted himself primarily to painting. Most of the works are quite schematic, which brought the artist closer to abstraction. His second phase is also characterized by Slovenian motifs. During this period, he relied even more on his home environment and tried to express his personal view of rural life through his images. In the last phase of his life, he created color prints. He also tried his hand at writing. During his life, he participated in several exhibitions at home and abroad.
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France Kralj je bil eden izmed poglavitnih slovenskih umetnikov, ki so obvladovali kulturno-umetnostno dogajanje v 20. stoletju. Sprva se je zanimal predvsem za rezbarstvo, ki ga je spoznal pri bratu Tonetu in drugih mojstrih v domačem okolju.
Kasneje se je posvetil predvsem slikarstvu, kiparstvu in grafiki in izdelal veliko število reprezentativnih podob za profano in sakralno okolje. Med 1909 in 1912 je obiskoval obrtno šolo v Ljubljani. Tam se je uril v kiparstvu. Šolanje je nadaljeval v Celovcu, leta 1919 pa se je vpisal na Dunajsko akademijo. V cesarskem mestu se je osredotočil na slikarstvo, z izobraževanjem pa je nato nadaljeval na akademiji v Pragi. Po koncu študija se je France vrnil v Ljubljano.
Leta 1920 je odprl umetnostni atelje in v mestu, med 1926-1945, poučeval modelarstvo ter vodil keramično šolo. Je eden prvih slovenskih umetnikov, ki se je odmaknil od razvpitega impresionizma in je v ospredje zanimanja postavil ekspresionizem. Nekoliko kasneje je v njegovem izrazu prevladala nova stvarnost. Tedaj so se Kraljeve barve skoraj da poenotile. Postale so monokromne, da bi z njimi dosegel večjo plastičnost. V likovnem izrazu Franceta prevladujejo monumentalne figuralne kompozicije s poudarkom na formi in ne vsebini.
Upodobljene figure so tako prepričljive, da delujejo kot da bi segle ven iz realnega slikarskega platna in nas bi vabile k ogledu. Oblikoval jih je s pomočjo valjastih form in so se večkrat približale kiparskemu obdelovanju predmetov. V njih ni poudaril individualnost upodobljencev ampak so figure bolj kot ne tipizirane. Slike so zapolnjene do zadnjega delca, zato v njih umanjka zračnost in tako ustvarjajo napetost med upodobljenim in videnim. V naboru motivov je segel v slovensko narodno motiviko in na podeželje. Tako kot brat Tone, je tudi on ustvaril kar nekaj sakralni poslikav. Slikal je tudi krajine, tihožitja in portrete ter žanrske motive iz domače okolice. V njegovih delih je prvič prestavljena slovenska resničnost z dostojanstvom do delovnega kmeta in podeželja, v katerem se zrcali tragika in veličina. V večini umetnin se je odmaknil od optične resničnosti in je upodobljeno predimenzioniral. S tem je nakazal novo pot do slovenske moderne umetnosti. Preizkusil se je tudi s slikanjem na steklo in v knjižni ilustraciji.
V času 30ih leti je France posegel predvsem po zemeljskih barvnih odtenkih, da bi likovna snov čim bolje učinkovala na gledalca. Ti so se ponovno pojavile v povojnem času med umetniki Informela. Med obema vojnama se je uveljavil z grafično opremo knjig, pa vendar ga niso oblasti nikoli sprejele. Tedaj je opustil kiparstvo in se je prvenstveno posvetil slikarstvu. Večina del je precej shematiziranih, s čimer se je umetnik približal abstrakciji. Tudi za njegovo drugo fazo je značilna slovenska motivika. V tem obdobju se je še bolj oprl na domače okolje in je preko svojih podob skušal izraziti osebni pogled na kmečko življenje. V zadnji fazi življenja so nastale barvne grafike. Preizkusil se je tudi v pisanju. Tekom svojega življenja je sodeloval na nekaj razstavah doma in v tujini.
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:
Robert CAGLIČ, s. v. Ilustracija, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, Ljubljana 2009, pp. 93-104.
Uredništvo, s. v. Lirična abstrakcija, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, Ljubljana 2009, pp. 163-166.
Uredništvo, s. v. Regionalizem, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, Ljubljana 2009, pp. 235-238.
Marijan ZADNIKAR, s. v. Kralj, France, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 3, Zagreb 1964, p. 238.
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