(Stara vas, Žiri, 15.2.1936 - Žiri, 30.12.2000)
Konrad Peternelj, called Slovenec, was one of the Slovenian naive painters who created in Žiri. In his youth, he trained as a shoemaker and worked at the Alpina factory. He liked to spend his free time painting and showed artistic talent quite early on.
He began to develop it more intensively during the 1950s. At that time, a cultural event took shape in his home environment that encouraged amateur painters to take a more serious approach to creation. A group of talented men was formed, in which members debated art and painted together. They called it the Žiri School or the Rovtarske Atene. In addition to Konrad Peternelj, it was also made up of Jože Peternelj and Janez and Pavle Sedej. The members of the group did not have basic academic knowledge, so they initially focused on the works of old masters and other artists who had established themselves in their area. This helped them gain skills and then develop their own artistic expression. The group was in close contact with the Yugoslav naive artists of the Hlebin School, led by Krsto Hegedušić.
Konrad Peternelj was primarily interested in all the elements that were characteristic of his surroundings. His paintings showed village life and customs that were slowly sinking into oblivion and giving way to the modern way of life. In them, he used the tonal scale to intensify the drama, which added elegance to the final impression. He was an exceptionally good colorist who captured the atmosphere and mood in his images. Peternelj's paintings are like a living image of the village world, with all the characteristic elements of the surroundings. He did not try to make a comment on the reactionary society with his works of art, but depicted it with great respect for everything traditional. His compositions are transparent and clearly structured. They are complemented by figures that appear spontaneously in the works, without any specifically defined rules.
These are somewhat more elaborate than those of other naive painters, as the artist did not try to deform them excessively. He used a variety of materials in his paintings. He most often created with oil paints on glass or wood. His images were well received by art lovers. During his lifetime, he presented himself at more than 60 solo exhibitions. He received several internationally renowned awards, among which the Peter Paul Rubens Gold Medal in 1989 stands out.
---
Konrad Peternelj, imenovan Slovenec, je bil eden izmed slovenskih slikarjev naivcev, ki so ustvarjali v Žireh. V mladih letih se je izučil za čevljarja in opravljal službo v tovarni Alpina. Prosti čas si je rad krajšal s slikanjem in je že dokaj kmalu pokazal umetnostni talent. Intenzivneje ga je pričel razvijati tekom 50ih letih 20. stoletja.
Tedaj se je v domačem okolju izoblikovalo kulturno dogajanje, ki je ljubiteljske slikarje spodbudilo k resnejšemu pristopu do ustvarjanja. Oblikovala se je skupina nadarjenih mož, v kateri so člani debatirali o umetnosti in skupaj slikali. Poimenovali so jo Žirovska šola oziroma Rovtarske Atene. Poleg Konrada Peternelja, so jo tvorili še Jože Peternelj in Janez ter Pavle Sedej. Člani skupine niso imeli osnovnega akademskega znanja, zato so se sprva osredotočili na dela starih mojstrov in drugih umetnikov, ki so se uveljavili v njihovi okolici. S tem so pridobili na spretnostih, nato pa so razvili lasten likovni izraz. Skupina je bila v tesnem stiku z jugoslovanskimi naivci Hlebinske šole, ki jo je vodil Krsto Hegedušić.
Konrad Peternelj se je zanimal predvsem za vse elemente, ki so bili značilni za njegovo okolico. Na njegovih slikah se je pojavilo vaško življenje in običaji, ki so počasi tonili v pozabo in so se umikali modernemu načinu življenja. V njih je s pomočjo tonske lestvice stopnjeval dramatiko, ki je h končnemu vtisu dodala eleganco. Bil je izjemno dober kolorist, ki je v svoje podobe ujel atmosfero in štimungo. Peterneljeve slike so kot živa podoba iz vaškega sveta, z vsemi značilnimi elementi za okolico. Z umetninami ni skušal podati opazke do nazadnjaške družbe, ampak jo je upodobil z velikim spoštovanjem do vsega tradicionalnega. Njegove kompozicije so pregledne in jasno razčlenjene. Dopolnjujejo jih figure, ki se v delih pojavljajo spontano, brez posebej definiranih pravil.
Te so nekoliko bolj dodelane kot pri drugih slikarjih naive, saj jih umetnik ni skušal pretirano deformirati. Pri slikanju je uporabil raznolike materiale. Največkrat je ustvarjal z oljnimi barvami na steklo ali les. Njegove podobe so bile dobro sprejete med ljubitelji umetnosti. Za čas svojega življenja se je predstavil na več kot 60ih samostojnih razstavah. Prejel je nekaj mednarodno uglednih nagrad, med katerimi še posebej izstopa zlata medalja Petra Paula Rubensa, leta 1989.
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:
Mira KALAN, s. v. Konrad Peternelj (1936-2000), Obrazi slovenskih pokrajin, Kranj 2020, https://www.obrazislovenskihpokrajin.si/hu/oseba/peternelj-slovenec-konrad/ (17.1.2025).
Boštjan SOKLIČ, Konrad Peternelj Slovenec in »žirovska šola«, Loški muzej, https://www.loski-muzej.si/predstavitve-ustvarjalcev-in-njihovih-praks/konrad-peternelj-slovenec-in-zirovska-sola_1/ (3.1.2025).
Uredništvo, s. v. Naivna umetnost, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, pp. 186-188.
For all additional information regarding the purchase and other services, you can contact us by phone or e-mail: info@portaalpina-gallery.com
We will try to answer you as soon as possible.