(Idrija, 25.7.1851-Ljubljana, 12.2.1910)
Ludvik Grilc was a Slovenian portraitist, fresco artist and landscape painter who created in the second half of the 19th century in the manner of academic realism. Even in his teenage years, he showed excellent drawing skills and great enthusiasm for painting, so his family sent him to the Idrija painter Juri Tavčar for training. Grilc's teacher was somewhat conservative and defended the tradition of Slovenian painters. This also influenced the artistic expression of the young artist at an early stage. After finishing school with Tavčar, he helped him for another two years as a personal assistant, and then around 1870 he headed for Vienna. There he enrolled in the painting academy, where he stayed for only a short time. Due to financial difficulties in the family, the artist was forced to return home.
At that time, he was supported by Josip Gorjup, who was considered a great patron of art in Rijeka. During his stay in his homeland, Ludvik often visited Janez Wolf's workshop. He learned the technique of painting on fresh plaster from him, and in 1880 he was able to return to Vienna with the help of the Carniola Regional Committee. During his four-year stay in the imperial capital, he acquired an academic education, which he perfected in Venice. After the end of his studies, the artist settled permanently in Ljubljana. There he opened a studio in his house, in which he painted most of the pictures, although many of them were already painted in nature. In his visual language, he was always accompanied by an academic style, which can be seen in his good knowledge of anatomy, dark coloring and as detailed an imitation of nature as possible. Compared to other contemporaneous painters, he seems somewhat conservative, as his more traditional orientation provided him with more commissions to survive. His move is not free and is not fed by the artist's personal experience of the world, but follows the laws of nature.
He helped himself to painting with photographs, which he used instead of sketches. He was also engaged in restoration, but caused considerable damage with his unskillful interventions. In the last phase of creation, in 1892, the Bulgarian prince Ferdinand awarded him a silver shrine. The artist participated in only a handful of exhibitions, the most important of which was in 1900 in the Jakopič Pavilion. Together with other painters, he exhibited works of art there, but he did not receive praiseworthy comments from art critics.
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Ludvik Grilc je bil slovenski portretist, freskant in krajinar, ki je ustvarjal v drugi polovici 19. stoletja v maniri akademskega realizma. Že v času mladostniških letih je pokazal odlične spretnosti za risanje in veliko navdušenje nad slikanjem, zato so ga domači napotili na izobraževanje k idrijskemu slikarju Juriju Tavčarju. Grilčev učitelj je bil nekoliko konservativen in je zagovarjal še izročilo slovenskih podobarjev. To je v zgodnji fazi vplivalo tudi na likovni izraz mladega umetnika. Po koncu šolanja pri Tavčarju, mu je še dve leti pomagal kot osebni asistent, nato pa se je okoli leta 1870 napotil proti Dunaju. Tam se je vpisal na slikarsko akademijo, na kateri je ostal zgolj kratek čas. Umetnik se je bil zaradi finančne stiske v družini primoran vrniti nazaj domov.
Takrat mu je nudil oporo Josip Gorjup, ki je veljal za velikega umetnostnega mecena na Reki. Tekom bivanja v domovini je Ludvik pogosto zahajal v delavnico Janeza Wolfa. Od njega se je naučil tehnike slikanja na svež omet, že leta 1880 pa se je s pomočjo Kranjskega deželnega odbora lahko vrnil nazaj na Dunaj. Med štiriletnim bivanjem v cesarski prestolnici je pridobil akademsko izobrazbo, ki jo je izpopolnil še v Benetkah. Po koncu študijske poti se je umetnik za stalno naselil v Ljubljani. Tam je v svoji hiši odprl atelje, v katerem je naslikal večino slik pa čeprav so številni že slikali v naravi. V njegovi likovni govorici ga je ves čas spremljal akademski slog kar je mogoče opaziti v dobrem poznavanju anatomije, temnemu koloritu ter čim bolj nadrobnem posnemanju narave. V primerjavi z drugimi sočasnimi slikarji deluje nekoliko konservativen, saj mu je bolj tradicionalna usmeritev zagotovila več naročil za preživetje. Njegova poteza ni svobodna in se ne napaja v umetnikovem osebnem doživljanju sveta ampak sledi zakonitostim narave.
Pri slikanju si je pomagal s fotografijami, ki jih je uporabljal namesto skice. Ukvarjal se je tudi z restavratorstvom a je s svojimi neveščimi posegi povzročil precejšno škodo. V zadnji fazi ustvarjanja, leta 1892, mu je bolgarski knez Ferdinand podelil srebrno svetinjo. Umetnik je sodeloval zgolj na peščici razstav, med katerimi je bila pomembnejša leta 1900 v Jakopičevem paviljonu. Na njej je skupaj z drugimi slikarji razstavil umetnine a med likovnimi kritiki ni dosegel hvalevrednih komentarjev.
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:
Emilijan CEVC, Slikar Ludvik Grilc, Idrijski razgledi, II/2, 30.6.1957, pp. 66-67.
Emilijan CEVC, s. v. Grilc, Ludvik, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 2, Zagreb 1962, p. 470.
France MESESNEL, s. v. Grilc, Ludvik (1851-1910), Slovenski biografski leksikon, 2 zv. Erberg- Hinterlechner, Ljubljana 1926, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi215967/ (26.6.2024)
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