(Kanal ob Soči, 8.11.1908-Ljubljana, 26.12.1987)
Riko Debenjak is considered one of the great artists who experimented with a wide variety of graphic techniques. He tried his hand at etching, woodcut, colour lithography, colour etching and aquatint. He drew inspiration for them from the coastal-karst landscape, to which he cultivated a particularly respectful attitude. He came from Kanal ob Soča, but due to changing cultural and political conditions, he and his family were forced to move from their birthplace. This migration marked him for the rest of his life and is also visible in his artistic expression. He is considered to be a major initiator in the establishment of the Ljubljana School of Graphics.
His artistic development began in Belgrade, where he attended a painting school between 1930 and 1937. At the end of his education, his artworks were put on display in the city, and since then he has participated in slightly more than 300 exhibitions at home and abroad. The Belgrade period was followed by a brief move to Paris, after which he settled permanently in Ljubljana. His artistic expression follows several stylistic directions. He began in a realistic manner, which returned to national motifs through the influences of Parisian impressionism in his home environment. He later developed this almost to complete abstraction. Although he established himself more with graphic images, between 1936 and 1957 he produced quite a few oils, to which he returned even towards the end of his creative career. His oeuvre includes quite a few still lifes, landscapes, portraits, vedutes and figures.
During the war, he was mainly involved in illustration, which brought him an important source of income to survive. These are more than realistic with some literary lyrical accents. In 1948, he became a professor of graphic arts and assistant professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. During this time, he developed the canon of Slovenian graphics and strongly influenced its development in our region. He received many awards for his work. Among the most important are the award for the best graphic artist at the international exhibition in Sao Paulo in 1959, and the Prešeren Award in 1960. Ten years before his death, the Rik Debenjak gallery was opened in his hometown, where most of the artist's works are stored.
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Riko Debenjak velja za enega izmed velikih umetnikov, ki so eksperimentirali z najrazličnejšimi grafičnimi tehnikami. Preizkusil se je v jedkanici, lesorezu, barvni litografiji, barvni jedkanici in akvatinti. Navdih zanje je črpal v obalno-kraški krajini, do katere je gojil posebej spoštljiv odnos. Izviral je iz Kanala ob Soči, a se je bil z družino zaradi spreminjajočih se kulturno-političnih razmer primoran preseliti iz rodnega kraja. Ta selitev ga je zaznamovala za vse življenje in je vidna tudi v njegovem likovnem izrazu. Velja za velikega pobudnika pri ustanovitvi ljubljanske grafične šole.
Njegov umetnostni razvoj se je začel v Beogradu, kjer je med 1930 in 1937 obiskoval slikarsko šolo. Ob koncu izobraževanja so v mestu na ogled postavili njegove umetnine, vse od takrat pa je sodeloval na nekaj več kot 300 razstavah doma in v tujini. Beograjskemu obdobju je sledila kratka selitev v Pariz, nato pa se je stalno naselil v Ljubljani. Njegov umetnostni izraz sledi več slogovnim usmeritvam. Začel je v realistični maniri, ki se je preko vplivov pariškega impresionizma v domačem okolju vrnila k nacionalni motiviki. To je kasneje razvil skoraj do popolne abstrakcije. Čeprav se je bolj uveljavil z grafičnimi podobami, je med 1936 in 1957 izdelal kar nekaj olj h katerim se je vrnil tudi proti koncu ustvarjalne kariere. V njegovem opusu je kar nekaj tihožitij, krajin, portretov, vedut in figuralike.
Med vojno se je ukvarjal predvsem z ilustracijo, ki mu je prinesla pomemben vir dohodka za preživetje. Te so bolj kot ne realistične z nekaj literarno liričnimi poudarki. Leta 1948 je postal profesor grafične tehnike in docent na likovni akademiji v Ljubljani. V tem času je razvijal kanon slovenske grafike in močno vplival na njen razvoj v našem prostoru. Za svoje delo je prejel številne nagrade. Med najpomembnejše sodita priznanje za najboljšega grafika na mednarodni razstavi v Sao Paolu, leta 1959, in Prešernovo nagrado leta 1960. Deset let pred smrtjo, so v rojstnem kraju odprli galerijo Rika Debenjaka, kjer je shranjena večina umetnikovih del.
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:
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Debenjak, Riko, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
coll. 445-446.
Lucijan Menaše, s. v. Debenjak, Riko, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 2, Zagreb 1962, pp. 19-20.
Breda ŠKRJANC, Riko Debenjak, Ljubljanska grafična šola (Ljubljana, Mednarodni grafični likovni centrom, ed. Barbara Habič Pregl), Ljubljana 1997, pp. 82-90.
Breda ŠKRJANEC, Med tradicijo in iskanjem svobodnega likovnega izraza, Grafika Rika Debenjaka, Živo verjamem v svetlobo in materijo=Relentless faith in light and matter. Riko Debenjak (Ljubljana Mednarodni grafični likovni center, ed. Nevenka Šivavec), Ljubljana 2020, pp. 15-29.
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