(Ilirska Bistrica, 14.8.1897 - Ljubljana, 12.2.1959)
France Pavlovec was a Slovenian artist who continued to paint landscapes after the end of Impressionism. In 1914, he was drafted into World War I. He was captured by Russian soldiers and taken prisoner. He did not return to his homeland until 1918, when he managed to escape via Thessaloniki.
In his youth, Pavlovec was employed on the railway. In his free time, he liked to paint. While visiting an exhibition of Slovenian artists at the Jakopič Pavilion in 1920, he decided to pursue his own artistic career. He enrolled in the Probuda school, where other Slovenian artists also gathered and created. In 1923, he was accepted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. He mainly socialized with Croatian colleagues, who formed the fourth generation of graduates at the local academy. Five years later, he completed his studies with honors, and then moved back to Ljubljana.
He wanted to continue his education in Paris, so in 1929 he applied for a state scholarship. This would have enabled him to develop his skills in the then cultural capital of Europe, but he was unsuccessful. In anger, he destroyed many of the works he had created up to that point and stopped working for a while. He mostly used oil paints when painting. At the beginning of his career, he was mainly interested in figurative art. Over time, he redirected this to exploring the landscape that surrounded the artist in his surroundings. His oeuvre is extensive and diverse with simple visual material. He was also interested in genre and still life, and occasionally created a portrait. He depicted the Sava, Bohinj and Soča Rivers several times, and there are also some images of the Istrian and Karst landscapes. In the first phase of his work, Pavlovec relied on the guidance of his Zagreb professors.
He supplemented his academic practice with stronger colours and a freer stroke, which he learned from Jakopič. Throughout his life, he was in close friendly contact with the great artist, with whom he painted together on several occasions. His landscapes reflect a realistic image, but they also reflect the artist's own attitude towards them. He painted with quick and thin strokes. In his work, he moved away from the popular socialist realism. In the last phase of his life, he strove for simplicity in his paintings and tried to show only the essence. With his artistic talent, he earned several awards, including the Prešeren Award in 1949. He exhibited in Ljubljana, Belgrade, Zagreb, London and Rome, and his works still delight visitors to art galleries today.
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France Pavlovec je bil slovenski likovni umetnik, ki je po koncu impresionizma nadaljeval z upodabljanjem krajine. Leta 1914 so ga vpoklicali v prvo svetovno vojno. Zajeli so ga ruski vojaki, ki so ga peljali v ujetništvo. Nazaj v domovino se je vrnil šele leta 1918, ko je uspel pobegniti preko Soluna.
V mladih letih je bil Pavlovec zaposlen na železnici. V prostem času je rad slikal. Ob obisku razstave slovenskih umetnikov, v Jakopičevem paviljonu, leta 1920, se je odločil za lastno umetnostno kariero. Vpisal se je v šolo Probuda, v kateri so se zbrali in ustvarjali tudi drugi slovenski umetniki. Leta 1923 so ga sprejeli na likovno akademijo v Zagreb. Družil se je predvsem s hrvaškimi kolegi, ki so tvorili četrto generacijo diplomantov na lokalni akademiji. Pet let kasneje je z odliko zaključil študij, nato pa se je preselil nazaj v Ljubljano.
Z izobraževanjem je želel nadaljevati v Parizu, zato je leta 1929 kandidiral za državno štipendijo. S pomočjo te bi mu omogočili razvoj spretnosti v tedanji kulturni prestolnici Evrope, a je bil pri tem neuspešen. V jezi je uničil veliko do tedaj nastalih del in je za nekaj časa prekinil z ustvarjanjem. Pri slikanju je največkrat uporabljal oljne barve. V začetku ustvarjanja se je zanimal predvsem za figuraliko. To je skozi čas preusmeril v raziskovanje krajine, ki je umetnika obkrožala v njegovi okolici. Njegov opus je obsežen in raznolik z enostavno likovno snovjo. Zanimal ga je tudi žanr in tihožitje, občasno je izdelal kakšen portret. Večkrat je upodobil Savo, Bohinj in Posočje, nekaj pa je tudi podob istrske in kraške krajine. V prvi fazi ustvarjanja se je Pavlovec oprl na smernice zagrebških profesorjev.
Akademsko prakso je dopolnil z močnejšim koloritom in svobodnejšo potezo, ki ju je spoznal pri Jakopiču. Skozi vse življenje je bil v tesnem prijateljskem stiku z velikim umetnikom, s katerim sta večkrat skupaj slikala. Njegove krajine sicer zrcalijo realno podobo ampak je v teh prisoten tudi umetnikov lasten odnos do teh. Slikal je s hitrimi in tankimi potezami. Pri ustvarjanju se je odmaknil od priljubljenega socialističnega realizma V zadnji fazi življenja, je v svojih slikah stremel k preprostosti in je skušal prikazati le bistvo. S svojim umetnostnim talentom si je prislužil več nagrad, med drugim tudi Prešernovo, leta 1949. Razstavljal je v Ljubljani, Beogradu, Zagrebu, Londonu in Rimu, njegova dela pa še danes navdušujejo obiskovalce umetnostnih galerij.
The text was prepared for the Porta Alpina gallery by Pia Župevec, B.Sc. art history
Besedilo je za galerijo Porta Alpina pripravila Pia Župevec, dipl. um. zgod.
SOURCES/VIRI:
Karel DEŽMAN, s. v. Pavlovec, France, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 3, Zagreb 1964, p. 641.
Verena KORŠIČ, s. v. Pavlovec France (1897-1959), Slovenska biografija, 2013, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi408118/ (22.1.2025).
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Pavlovec, France, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
Coll. 1604-1605.
Donovan PAVLINEC, s. v. Socialistični realizem, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, pp. 262-268.
France STELE, Slovenski slikarji, Ljubljana 1949, p. 150.
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