Maksim Gaspari

(Selšček, 28.1.1883 - Ljubljana, 14.11.1980)

Maksim Gaspari was a Slovenian painter, illustrator and graphic artist who worked in the middle of the 20th century. Through his visual representations, he tried to present forgotten content, which he revived from Slovenian national motifs. He initially attended art classes in Ljubljana and then enrolled at an art school in Vienna. There, in 1903, together with other Yugoslav colleagues, he founded the Vesna society. The umbrella group says that its members tried to revive and create real Slovenian art for the nation. In addition to Gaspari, the judges included Hinko Smrekar, Gvido Birolla, Saša Šantel, Svetoslav Peruzzi, Fran Tratnik, Ivan Meštrović and Mirko Rački.

Products from the Wiener Werkstatte came to our territory, which were on the one hand very decorative and on the other hand freed of all local peculiarities. The Vesnani were thus supposed to reshape the collective image of the nation, which was based on a forgotten local tradition. During his education in the imperial capital, Maxim Gaspari was strongly influenced by G. Segantini, K. Somov, J. Uprka and other Viennese secessionists. Over time, he developed his individual and realistically based style, which he supplemented with Art Nouveau accents and ethnographic motifs. His painting is full of folklore features such as national costumes, costumes, motifs from tales and fables that point to the artist's affiliation.

At first he created in black and white technique, but from 1904 he gradually added colour. He mostly painted in earth tones, which he enriched with green, blue and red. After completing his education in Vienna, he traveled to Munich. There, like his older colleagues, he was interested in already established compositions and, by imitating them, achieved great progress in mastering the painting technique. The Munich period was followed by a return to his homeland, where he remained. His works of art were printed on many postcards, and they were also published en masse in contemporary magazines such as Ljubljana Bell, Dom in svet and Ciciban.

In addition to works of art, he also produced vignettes, caricatures and calendar headers, and from time to time he embellished some text. During his stay in Ljubljana, Gaspari worked as a restaurateur in the ethnographic museum. He was very engaged in exhibiting his works of art and thus participated several times in domestic and foreign exhibitions. In 1953, the National Gallery held a retrospective exhibition of him, thus putting the artist's oeuvre on display for the public during his 70th year of creation. In the same year, he also received the Prešeren Prize.

The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history

SOURCES:
Alenka di BATTISTA, s. v. Bucik, Avgust, Andrej (1887-1951), Novi slovenski biografski leksikon, 3 zv. Ble-But, Ljubljana 2018, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi151726/ (28.6.2024).
Marijan BRECELJ, s. v. Bucik, Avgust, Andrej (1887-1951), Primorski slovenski biografski leksikon, 3 snop. Bor - Čopič, Gorica 1976, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi151726/ (28.6.2024).
Karel DEŽMAN, s. v. Bucik, Andrej, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 1, Zagreb 1959, p. 525.
France STELE, Dve razstavi, Dom in Svet, XXXVI/6, 1923, pp. 191-192.

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Maksim Gaspari je bil slovenski slikar, ilustrator in grafik, ki je ustvarjal v pri polovici 20. stoletja. Preko svojih vizualnih reprezentacij je skušal predstaviti pozabljene vsebine, ki jih je obudil iz slovenske nacionalne motivike. Likovni pouk je sprva obiskoval v Ljubljani nato pa se je vpisal še na umetnoobrtno šolo na Dunaju. Tam je leta 1903 skupaj z drugimi jugoslovanskimi kolegi ustanovil društvo Vesna. Že krovno skupine pove, da so si njeni člani prizadevali obuditi in zasnovati pravo slovensko umetnost za narod. Mednje so poleg Gasparija sodili še Hinko Smrekar, Gvido Birolla, Saša Šantel, Svetoslav Peruzzi, Fran Tratnik, Ivan Meštrović in Mirko Rački.

Na naše ozemlje so namreč prihajali izdelki z Wiener Werkstatte, ki so bili po eni strani zelo dekorativni po drugi pa očiščeni vseh lokalnih posebnosti. Vesnani naj bi tako na novo izoblikovali kolektivno podobo naroda, ki se je oplajala v pozabljeni lokalni tradiciji. Tekom izobraževanja v cesarski prestolnici je bil Maksim Gaspari močno pod vplivom G. Segantinija, K. Somova, J. Uprke in drugih dunajskih secesionistov. Sčasoma je razvil svoj individualen in realistično osnovan slog, ki ga je dopolnil z Art Nouveau poudarki in etnografsko motiviko. Njegovo slikarstvo je polno folklornih značilnosti kot npr. narodne noše, šege, motivi iz pripovedk in bajk, ki opozarjajo na pripadnost umetnika.

Sprva je ustvarjal v črno beli tehniki, od leta 1904 pa je postopoma dodajal še kolorit. Večinoma je slikal v zemeljskih tonih, ki jih je obogatil z zeleno, modro in rdečo barvo. Po končani izobrazbi na Dunaju je odpotoval v München. Tam se je podobno kot njegovi starejši kolegi zanimal za že uveljavljene kompozicije in s posnemanjem teh dosegel velik napredek pri obvladovanju tehnike slikanja. Münchenskemu obdobju je sledila vrnitev v domovino, kjer je tudi ostal. Njegove umetnine so natisnili na številne razglednice, množično pa so jih objavljali tudi v sočasnih revijah kot npr. Ljubljanski Zvon, Dom in svet ter Ciciban.

Poleg umetnin je izdeloval še vinjete, karikature in koledarska zaglavja, občasno pa je likovno opremil kakšno besedilo. Gaspari je med bivanjem v Ljubljani služboval kot restavrator v etnografskem muzeju. Bil je zelo angažiran za razstavljanje svojih umetnin in tako večkrat sodeloval na domačih in tujih razstavah. Leta 1953 so mu v Narodni galeriji priredili pregledno razstavo in s tem za javnost na ogled postavili umetnikov opus tekom 70. letnega ustvarjanja. Istega leta je prejel tudi Prešernovo nagrado.

Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.

VIRI:
Špelca ČOPIČ, Slovensko slikarstvo, Ljubljana 1966.
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Gaspari, Maksim, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971, coll. 699-700.
Andrej SMREKAR, Maksim Gaspari, Sto umetnin Narodne galerije (Ljubljana, Narodna galerija, ed. Mateja Breščak), Ljubljana 2016, pp. 130-131.
Marijan ZADNIKAR, s. v. Gaspari, Maksim, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 2, Zagreb 1962, pp. 352-353.