(Vesca, 7.2.1842-Kamnik, 26.2.1917)
Matija Koželj was a Slovenian portraitist and amateur painter who created in the second half of the 19th century and at the turn of the 20th century. He was always supported in painting by Mihael Petrnel, who served as a school chaplain in Vodice. When Matija arrived in Ljubljana, he introduced him to many contemporary artists, as he saw great potential in his skills. Between 1860 and 1862, Koželj attended a drawing course at the Ljubljanska realka, and three years after that he moved permanently to Kamnik. Due to the financial deficit in the family, he was prevented from further academic education. He perfected his painting skills during 1878, when he visited Graz and Vienna.
After 1900, the artist went on a study trip to Italy and copied the works of the old masters. Devotional images occupy a central place in his oeuvre. He made as many as 22 Stations of the Cross and fourteen depictions of the Holy Sepulchre. In addition to painting in oil, he also tried his hand at the al fresco technique, or painting on fresh plaster. Matija's artistic language is closest to the Nazarene painters. They represented a group of artists who painted sacred motifs. In style, Nazarene painters tried to get as close as possible to nature. Their creation was also supported by the church, because through these works of art they presented Catholic dogmas and taught the faithful about the faith. His sacral paintings can be found all over Slovenia. He created some of them himself, and some of them were also helped by the workshop. He is said to have painted 50 churches, most of them in Gorenjski and Dolenjski, such as in Mengš, in Kamnik, in Bohinjska Bistrica, in Komenda, in Vrhnika, Kranj and in Novo Mesto and in some other locations.
The Koželj workshop was also famous for the large altarpieces that Matija made together with his son Maks Koželj. About 130 of them were to be created. In the last phase, he focused on depicting mountains and landscapes in which he recreated a lyrical feeling with a realistic style. He achieved this mainly with warm colours and soft strokes, which brought him very close to his son's artistic language. In his legacy, we find many sketches with which he helped himself to painting. Towards the end of his life, he wrote his biography and published it in Carniola, then died of lung disease at the age of seventy-five.
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Matija Koželj je bil slovenski podobar in amaterski slikar, ki je ustvarjal v drugi polovici 19. stoletja in na prehodu v 20. stoletje. Pri slikanju ga je vselej podpiral Mihael Petrnel, ki je služboval kot kaplan šole v Vodicah. Ob prihodu Matije v Ljubljano ga je ta seznanil s številnimi sočasnimi umetniki, saj je v njegovih veščinah videl velik potencial. Koželj je v času med 1860 in 1862 obiskoval tečaj risanja na Ljubljanski realki, tri leta za tem pa se je za stalno preselil v Kamnik. Zaradi finančnega primanjkljaja v družini mu je bila nadaljnja akademska izobrazba onemogočena. Svoje slikarske veščine je izpopolnil tekom leta 1878, ko je obiskal Gradec in Dunaj.
Po letu 1900, se je umetnik odpravil na študijsko potovanje v Italijo in kopiral dela starih mojstrov. V njegovem opusu zavzemajo osrednje mesto nabožne podobe. Izdelal je kar 22 križevih potov in štirinajst prikazov božjega groba. Poleg slikanja v olju se je preizkusil tudi v tehniki al fresco oziroma slikanju na svež omet. Likovna govorica Matije je najbližje nazarenskim slikarjem. Ti so predstavljali skupino umetnikov, ki so slikali sakralno motiviko. V slogu so se nazarenski slikarji skušali čim bolj približati naravi. Njihovo ustvarjanje je podpirala tudi cerkev saj so preko teh umetnin predstavljali katoliške dogme in vernike poučevali o veri. Njegove sakralne slike najdemo po vsej Sloveniji. Nekaj jih je ustvaril sam, pri nekaterih pa mu je pomagala tudi delavnica. Poslikal naj bi 50 cerkva, večina teh je na Gorenjskem in Dolenjskem kot npr. v Mengšu, v Kamniku, v Bohinjski Bistrici, V Komendi, na Vrhniki, Kranju in v Novem Mestu ter še na nekaterih drugih lokacijah.
Delavnica Koželj je slovela tudi po velikih oltarnih podobah, ki jih je Matija izdelal skupaj s sinom Maksom Koželjem. Teh naj bi ustvarila približno 130. V zadnji fazi se je osredotočil na upodabljanje gora in krajin v katerih je z realističnim slogom poustvaril lirično občutenje. To je dosegel predvsem s toplimi barvami in mehko potezo, s čimer se je močno približal likovni govorici sina. V njegovi zapuščini najdemo številne skice, s katerimi si je pomagal pri slikanju. Proti koncu življenja je napisal svoj življenjepis in ga objavil v Carnioli, nato pa v starosti petinsedemdesetih let umrl zaradi pljučnega obolenja.
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:
Aleš SENOŽETNIK, Matija Koželj, plodovit slikar iz Vesc, Gorenjski glas, 27.2.2017, https://www.gorenjskiglas.si/article/20170227/C/170229834/1039/matija-kozelj--plodovit-slikar-iz-vesc (2.6.2024).
Viktor STESKA, Koželj, Matija (1842-1917), Slovenski biografski leksikon, 4 zv. Kocen – Lužar, Ljubljana 1932, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi297932/ (3.6.2024).
https://www.leksikon.si/Oseba/OsebaId/8
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