(Križ near Trieste, 1887 – Celje, 1947)
Albert Sirk was a Slovenian painter and illustrator, also known among art lovers as Jožinov Berto. He is one of the first Slovenian marine painters, or painters of sea and coastal landscapes. He spent most of his life on the coast, so it is not surprising that he depicted the domestic world around him.
Albert Sirk's canvases featured the vast sea and working people from the surrounding area. He expressed a great desire to create even in his youth. He began his artistic journey as a self-taught artist, attending several art courses in Venice and Urbino. He was one of the leading Slovenian marine painters, as he became the chief depiction master of the Austro-Hungarian Navy during the war. During this time, he taught art classes in Trieste. Due to the rising fascism, he moved to Lenart in Slovenske Gorice, and from there to Celje.
After the attacks ended, Sirk returned to the coast. His own language is based on the exploration of natural and symbolic motifs. He enriched his artworks with distinct color contrasts and dynamic compositions. He dealt with various motifs that accompanied him in his surroundings. In his paintings, we often find trees, water and sky, as Sirk was completely fascinated by nature. These images are extremely poetic, and they represent a great deal of picturesqueness. He also dealt with mythological themes and some moments from everyday life. In painting, he uses a wide variety of techniques, from acrylic to oil paints. He also often combined different styles in order to create a unique artistic language.
His paintings fluctuate between impressionism and realism. He mainly explored texture and materials, thereby adding a sense of deepening space to the two-dimensionality of the canvases. His way of modeling is extremely expressive. He often used his fingers to make the canvases even more dynamic and arouse irrevocable emotions in the audience. Sirk is both in Slovenia and abroad. Some of the more notable ones were in Skopje, Maribor and Celje, and a large retrospective was held for him in Piran upon his death.
He was well received by art critics. They noted that the artist was distinguished by his originality, perfected painting technique and the symbolism that permeates his images. Albert Sirk also illustrated books and magazines. The images often depict nature and dreams, just like on canvas, only they are somewhat more mysterious.
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Albert Sirk je bil slovenski slikar in ilustrator, ki je med ljubitelji umetnosti znan tudi kot Jožinov Berto. Je eden prvih slovenskih marinistov oz. slikarjev morske in obmorske krajine. Večino svojega življenja je preživel na obali, tako da ni presenetljivo, da je upodabljal domač svet okoli sebe.
Na platnih Alberta Sirka se je znašlo prostrano morje ter delovni ljudi iz okolice. Veliko željo po ustvarjanju je izrazil že v mladosti. Svojo umetniško pot je začel kot samouk, ki je obiskoval nekaj likovnih tečajev v Benetkah in Urbinu. Bil je eden izmed vodilnih slovenskih slikarjev morja, saj je v času vojne postal glavni upodobitveni mojster Avstroogrske vojne mornarice. V tem času je poučeval likovni pouk v Trstu. Zaradi vzpenjajočega se fašizma se je preselil v Lenart v Slovenskih Goricah, od tod pa v Celje.
Po koncu napadov, se je Sirk vrnil nazaj na obalo. Njegova lastna govorica temelji na raziskovanju naravnih in simbolnih motivov. Likovna dela je obogatil z izrazitimi barvnimi kontrasti in dinamičnimi kompozicijami. Obravnaval je različne motive, ki so ga spremljali v svoji okolici. V njegovih slikah pogosto najdemo drevesa, vodo in nebo, saj je bil Sirk povsem očaran nad naravo. Te podobe so izredno poetične, v njih pa je zastopana velika mera slikovitosti. Obravnaval je tudi mitološko tematiko in nekaj momentov iz vsakdanjega življenja. Pri slikanju je uporablja najrazličnejše tehnike, od akrila do oljnih barv. Večkrat je tudi kombiniral različne stile, da bi ustvaril edinstven likovni jezik.
Njegove slike nihajo med impresionizmom in realizmom svetom. Raziskoval je predvsem teksturo in materiale, s čimer je dvodimenzionalnosti platen dodal še občutek poglabljanja prostora. Njegov način modeliranja je izrazito ekspresiven. Pogosto je uporabil tudi prste, da bi platna še bolj dinamiziral in vzbudil nepreklicna čustva pri občinstvu. Sirk je tako v Sloveniji kot v tujini. Ene izmed bolj odmevnih so bile v Skopju, Mariboru in Celju, veliko retrospektivo pa so mu priredili ob smrti v Piranu.
Bil je dobro sprejet med likovnimi kritiki. Opazili so, da umetnika odlikuje originalnost, dovršena tehnika slikanja in simbolika, ki prežema njegove podobe. Albert Sirk se je ukvarjal tudi z ilustracijo knjig in revij. Podobe pogosto prikazujejo naravo in sanje, tako kot na platnih, le da je v njih prisotne nekaj več skrivnostnosti.
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:
Mateja BREŠČAK et. all., Albert Sirk, slikar našega morja, Narodna galerija, 2017.
Karel DOBIDA, s. v. Sirk Albert (1887-1947), Slovenska biografija, 2013, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi571136/ (12.3.2025).
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Sirk, Albert, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col.1985.
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