(Ljubljana, 10.10.1887 - Ljubljana, 23.1.1964)
France Podrekar was a Slovenian painter, illustrator and caricaturist. He became familiar with the principles of fine art design at a young age, as he attended a craft school in Ljubljana. In 1906, he went to Prague, where he enrolled in academic studies. A year later, he began attending the academy in Munich, where he perfected his painting skills.
He stayed and created in the city for three years, and from there the young artist continued his journey to Vienna. The study period was followed by a trip to Ljubljana, where he taught drawing at a girls' high school from 1919. He also served as a curator at the City Museum. In his free time, he was engaged in restoration. He painted mostly with oil paints. Podrekar's style followed the principles of academic realism with clear lines, which he used to emphasize figures. He chose colors based on harmonious balance. He carefully applied these to the canvas in order to achieve greater plasticity. A large number of drawings and illustrations have been preserved in his oeuvre.
He created the art equipment for as many as 23 children's books and is still considered one of the most important Slovenian illustrators today. He was a member of the nationally-tinged Vesna group, which tried to continue the drawing enthusiasm of the Šubic brothers. France Podrekar often revived ethnographic features in his work. He prepared some of the best illustrations for Jutranja zvezda, which reflect how the artist used smaller elements to build an artistic image. In addition to the covers, he also designed letters for several literary works, which, although they extended into the artistic space, nevertheless did not disrupt the relationship between the image and the context.
During his career, he painted quite a few portraits, and he also produced several portrait and political caricatures for Austro-Hungarian newspapers. These primarily reflect Podrekar's humorous approach to criticizing the society and political system of the time in the empire. He often deformed and exaggerated the figures depicted in order to better express his point of view. He produced a large number of sketches that appeared in several issues of the Slovenian magazines Dom in Svet and Zvonček. In 1949, he received the Levstik Award for illustrating the book by Fran Milčinski - Butalci.
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France Podrekar je bil slovenski slikar, ilustrator in karikaturist. Že v mladih letih se je seznanil z zakonitostmi likovnega snovanja, saj je obiskoval obrtno šolo v Ljubljani. Leta 1906 se je odpravil v Prago, kjer se je vpisal na akademski študij. Leto kasneje je pričel obiskovati akademijo v Münchnu, kjer je dopolnil slikarske veščine.
V mestu je ostal in ustvarjal tri leta, od tod pa je mladi umetnik pot nadaljeval še na Dunaj. Študijskemu obdobju je sledila pot v Ljubljano, kjer je vse od leta 1919 poučeval risanje na dekliškem liceju. Služboval je tudi kot kustos v Mestnem muzeju. V prostem času se je ukvarjal z restavratorstvom. Slikal je večinoma z oljnimi barvami. Podrekar je v slogu sledil zakonitostim akademskega realizma z jasnimi linijami, s pomočjo katerih je poudaril figure. Barve je izbral na podlagi harmoničnega ravnovesja. Te je premišljeno vnašal na platno, da bi z njimi dosegel večjo plastičnost. V njegovem opusu se je ohranilo veliko število risb in ilustracij. Izdelal je likovno opremo za kar 23 knjig za otroke in še danes velja za enega izmed poglavitnih slovenskih ilustratorjev.
Bil je član nacionalno obarvane skupine Vesna, ki je skušala nadaljevati risarsko vnemo bratov Šubic. France Podrekar je pri ustvarjanju večkrat obujal etnografske posebnosti. Ene izmed boljših ilustracij je pripravil za Jutranjo zvezdo, ki odražajo kako je umetnik s pomočjo manjših elementov gradil likovno podobo. Za nekaj literarnih del je poleg naslovnic oblikoval tudi črke, ki so sicer segle v likovni prostor, pa kljub temu niso porušile razmerja med podobo in kontekstom.
Tekom svoje kariere je naslikal kar nekaj portretov, izdelal pa je tudi več portretnih in političnih karikatur za Avstro-Ogrske časopise. Te odražajo predvsem Podrekarjev humorističen pristop do kritike tedanje družbe in politične ureditve v cesarstvu. Upodobljene figure je večkrat deformiral in predimenzioniral, da bi z njimi čim bolje izrazil svoje stališče. Izdelal je veliko število skic, ki so se pojavile v nekaj izvodih slovenskih revij Dom in Svet in Zvonček. Leta 1949, je za ilustriranje knjige Frana Milčinskega-Butalci, prejel Levstikovo nagrado.
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. Podrekar, France, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 3, Zagreb 1964, p. 693.
Sarah DOLINŠEK, s. v. Ilustracija, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, pp. 93-100.
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Podrekar, France, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col. 1659.
France STELE, s. v. Podrekar Fran (1887-1964), Slovenska biografija, 2013, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi440059/ (11.1.2025).
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