Lojze Perko

(Stari Trg pri Ložu, 21.4.1909-Ljubljana, 19.6.1980)

Lojze Perko was an academic painter and illustrator who, during his creative career, focused primarily on the Slovenian landscape. He started his professional career as a hairdresser, but soon after that he joined the art school Probuda, which was founded in Ljubljana on the initiative of Franjo Sterle. Ever since then, the young artist began to work intensively on painting, for which he showed considerable talent. In 1939, he enrolled at the painting academy in Zagreb, where he stayed for only one year. His path then led him to Sofia, but due to the impending Second World War, he quickly returned to his homeland. At that time, Perko designed illustrations for Levstik's Martin Krpan, but he was able to continue his education only after the fighting ended.

He enrolled at the Academy in Belgrade, where he graduated in 1949. His artistic expression is based on poetic realism with broad strokes and picturesque expression. He mostly painted in the oil on canvas technique, and a significant part of his oeuvre also consists of drawings and pastels. Lojze Perko depicted the world around him, which he observed during his stay in Notranjska. His images are a visual document of the artist's own experience of the world. Although he painted from nature, the foundations of the post-impressionist experience are still present in his works. He depicted fleeting moments that were imprinted in his memory outside the studio milieu. He painted landscapes around Kamnik, Lake Cerknica, Cerknica and Prekmurje. He also created many still lifes and paintings with figural motifs, among which children's portraits of wealthier families stand out.

In his genre scenes, he distanced himself somewhat from bourgeois society and preferred to shift his attention to the peasant population in their daily tasks, customs and holidays. Perko's images draw attention to the misery and hard work faced by the population in the rural environment. Regardless of the fact that he completed his academic education only after the war, the artist's style did not change significantly from the early stage. He was not looking for anything new in his artistic language and did not adapt to the prevailing artistic trends. He was also constant in his choice of motifs throughout his artistic career. Unlike other academic artists, he used an already lighter colour, which evolved into a brownish palette. Lojze Perko created until the end of his life. He left us at the age of seventy-one in a car accident.

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Lojze Perko je bil akademski slikar in ilustrator, ki se je tekom ustvarjalne kariere osredotočil predvsem na slovensko krajino. Poklicno pot je začel kot frizer, a se je že kmalu po tem pridružil umetnostni šoli Probuda, ki so jo ustanovili v Ljubljani na pobudo Franje Sterleta. Vse od tedaj se je mladi umetnik pričel intenzivno ukvarjati s slikarstvom za katerega je pokazal precejšen talent. Leta 1939 se je vpisal na slikarsko akademijo v Zagrebu, kjer je ostal zgolj eno leto. Pot ga je nato vodila proti Sofiji, a se je zaradi bližajoče se druge svetovne vojne hitro vrnil nazaj v domovino. Takrat je Perko zasnoval lustracije za Levstikovega Martina Krpana, s šolanjem pa je lahko nadaljeval šele po koncu spopadov.

Vpisal se je na akademijo v Beogradu, kjer je leta 1949 tudi diplomiral. Njegov likovni izraz temelji na poetičnem realizmu s široko potezo in slikovitim izrazom. Največkrat je slikal v tehniki olja na platno, precejšen del opusa pa sestavljajo tudi risbe in pasteli. Lojze Perko je upodabljal svet okoli sebe, ki ga je opazoval ob bivanju na Notranjskem. Njegove podobe so vizualni dokument umetnikovega lastnega doživljanja sveta. Čeprav je slikal po naravi so v njegovih delih prisotni še temelji poimpresionističnega izkustva. Upodabljal je hipne trenutke, ki so se mu vtisnili v spomin izven ateljejskega miljeja. Slikal je krajino v okolici Kamnika, Cerkniškega jezera, Cerknice in Prekmurja. Izdelal je tudi številna tihožitja in slike s figuralno motiviko med katerimi še posebej izstopajo otroški portreti premožnejših družin.

V njegovih žanrskih prizorih se je nekoliko oddaljil od meščanske družbe in je svojo pozornost raje preusmeril h kmečkemu prebivalstvu pri vsakodnevnih opravilih, običajih in praznikih. Perkove podobe opozarjajo na bedo in težaško delo s čimer se je soočalo prebivalstvo v ruralnem okolju. Ne glede nato, da je šele po vojni zaključil z akademsko izobrazbo, se umetnikov slog od zgodnje faze ni bistveno spremenil. V svoji likovni govorici ni iskal ničesar novega in se ni prilagajal prevladujočim umetnostnim tendencam. Tudi v izboru motivov je bil konstanten skozi celotno umetnostno kariero. Za razliko od drugih akademskih umetnikov je uporabljal že bolj svetel kolorit, ki se je izvil rjavkasti paleti. Lojze Perko je ustvarjal do konca svojega življenja. Zapustil nas je v starosti enainsedemdesetih let v prometni nesreči.

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

SOURCES/VIRI:
Mirko JUTRŠEK, s. v. Lojze Perko (1909-1980), Kamniški zbornik, 15 let. Ljubljana 2000, https://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:doc-U51J0N1Q/1b46917d-d36c-481e-961d-4f661e1cba64/PDF (14.6.2024).
Milček KOMELJ, s. v. Slikarski bard notranjske dežele, Kamniški zbornik, 20 let. Ljubljana 2010, https://www.dlib.si/stream/URN:NBN:SI:DOC-B18IVWKD/7b93d161-2425-4b89-bd44-548e1703e494/PDF (14.6.2024).
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Perko Lojze, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col. 1611.