(Ljubno na Gorenjskem 30.9.1803-Ljubljana 19.12.1871)
Mihael Stroj is considered one of the best portrait painters who depicted middle-class society in our country during the 19th century. Not much information is known about the artist's youth. We only know that between 1822 and 1825 he stayed in Vienna, where he attended the art academy. After finishing his education, he went to Venice and Rome and continued his training in painting. The period of schooling was followed by the artist's move to Zagreb, where he stayed for 12 years. There he set up a studio in his house, in which he painted portraits of the most prominent townspeople and famous personalities from the circle of Illyrians.
In 1842, he moved to Ljubljana to Mestni trg 9. He also opened a salon at this address, where mainly people from Prešeren's circle came to have his portrait taken. His style is considered typically Biedermeier. When painting, he relied on the laws he had acquired during his stay in Vienna. Several times he helped himself with templates or made busts in advance, and then just painted the face. Due to their own prefabricated bases, the depicted are repeatedly presented in very similar dignified and elegant poses and can be distinguished from each other only by their facial physiognomy. In his pictorial expression, he harmoniously balanced the relationship between form and colour. His move is mostly sharp and based on a model from nature. He used a softer stroke only to depict precious fabrics and in the design of faces. He was a virtuoso in the processing of fur, silk fabric and velvet. With this approach, the artist came closer to romanticism, which was dominant on a European scale at that time. His subjects are idealized without any individual expressiveness or deformity.
By beautifying the images, he satisfied the wishes of the clients, which contributed to the great demand for Stroj's portraits. He also painted genre scenes, allegories and histories, but largely avoided landscapes. Its color scheme is somewhat reduced. He mostly used only white, black and red, which he coordinated tonally with each other. Ever since Langus's death, he has become a leading portraitist of wealthy Zagreb and Ljubljana townspeople. This brought him a large enough income to survive and a great reputation in 19th century society.
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Mihael Stroj velja za enega boljših portretistov, ki so tekom 19. stoletja upodabljali meščansko družbo pri nas. O umetnikovi mladosti ni znanih dosti podatkov. Vemo le, da je med leti 1822 in 1825 bival na Dunaju, kjer je obiskoval likovno akademijo. Po koncu izobraževanja, se je odpravil v Benetke in Rim in nadaljeval z urjenjem v slikarstvu. Obdobju šolanja je sledila selitev umetnika v Zagreb, kjer je ostal 12 let. Tam je v svoji hiš vzpostavil atelje, v katerem je portretiral najuglednejše meščane in znane osebnosti iz kroga Ilircev.
Leta 1842 se je preselil v Ljubljano na Mestni trg 9. Tudi na tem naslovu je odprl salon, v katerega so na portretiranje prihajali predvsem ljudje iz Prešernovega kroga. Njegov slog velja za tipično bidermajerski. Pri slikanju se je oprl na zakonitosti, ki jih je osvojil med bivanjem na Dunaju. Večkrat si je pomagal s predlogami ali pa je že v naprej izdelal buste, nato pa le doslikal obraz. Zaradi lastnih prefabriciranih osnov so upodobljenci večkrat predstavljeni v zelo podobnih dostojanstvenih in elegantnih pozah in jih je med seboj mogoče ločiti zgolj po obrazni fiziognomiji. V njegovem slikovnem izrazu je harmonično uravnovesil razmerje med formo in barvo. Njegova poteza je večinoma ostra in se opira na vzor iz narave. Mehkejšo potezo je uporabil zgolj za upodobitev dragocenih tkanin in pri oblikovanju obrazov. Bil je virtuoz v obdelavi krzna, svilene tkanine in žameta.
S tem pristopom se je umetnik približal romantiki, ki je v tem času dominirala v evropskem merilu. Njegovi upodobljenci so idealizirani brez kakršne koli individualne izraznosti ali deformacije. Z olepševanjem podob je ugodil želji naročnikov kar je pripomoglo k velikemu povpraševanju po Strojevih portretih. Slikal je tudi žanrske prizore, alegorije in historije, v veliki meri pa se je izognil krajinarstvu. Njegova barvna shema je nekoliko okrnjena. Večinoma je uporabljal le belo, črno in rdečo, ki jih je tonsko uskladil med seboj. Vse od Langusove smrti je postal vodilni portretist premožnih zagrebških in ljubljanskih meščanov. To mu je prineslo dovolj velik dohodek za preživetje in velik ugled v družbi 19. stoletja.
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:
Špelca ČOPIČ, Slovensko slikarstvo, Ljubljana 1966.
Karel DEŽMAN, s. v. Stroj, Mihael, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 4, Zagreb 1966, p. 336.
Barbara JAKI, Mihael Stroj, Sto umetnin Narodne galerije (Ljubljana, Narodna galerija, ed. Mateja Breščak), Ljubljana 2016, pp. 78-79.
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Stroj, Mihael, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col. 2064.
France STELE, Slovenski slikarji, Ljubljana 1949, pp. 154-155.
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