(Ljubljana, 13.7.1883 - Ljubljana, 1.10.1942)
Hinko Smrekar established himself as one of the best cartoonists in Slovenia. With his depictions, he was able to humorously and wittily define himself in the socio-political situation of the first half of the 20th century. His manner of depiction was quite problematic in the given circumstances, so he became a victim of political violence early in his career.
He was extremely poor. With the help of his family, he managed to enroll in the Faculty of Law in Vienna, which he quickly abandoned. He developed a great love for art and primarily began to engage in drawing. Despite the fact that Hinko never completed his art training, he tried throughout his career to supplement his knowledge with numerous courses at painting schools. He also often visited the Austrian Museum of Arts and Crafts, where he drew and studied objects. While living in Vienna, Smrekar joined the Vesna art club. It was joined by young and aspiring Slovenian artists who strove to find national specificities in their range of motifs. Hinko was among the more active members who often included such artistic material in their works. This made Smrekar one of the pioneers of great Slovenian illustration.
He mainly depicted elements from Slavic folklore, especially in painting folk tales. Although Smrekar found himself well in Vienna, financial hardship forced him to leave the city. He returned to his homeland, and then only occasionally traveled to Vienna or Munich. During his fruitful artistic career, he produced a series of illustrations for books and poetry collections, and occasionally received a draft for a poster. His oeuvre also includes a few oil paintings, pen drawings and watercolors, although these are represented in the minority. In addition to his exceptional sense of illustration, he also established himself as a pioneer of pure graphics in Slovenian. He created in etching and aquatint.
He is also the author of the first tarot card in Slovenian, which was created between 1910 and 1912, and then he took up the pictorial equipment for Levstik's Martin Krpan. The initial enthusiasm for illustration was replaced by a passion for caricature. In the second phase of his work, he replaced folklore motifs with portraits of people doing various tasks. He depicted a wide variety of professions, and then he took up satire. In the last phase, his works radiated anger and a negative attitude towards politics. With the help of caricatures, Hinko Smrekar warned of the aggression of the regime and warned people against hypocrisy and corruption. During the occupation, he participated in the underground. He was captured by the fascists, who saw the artist as a threat and shot him in the area of Gramozna jama.
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Hinko Smrekar se je uveljavil kot eden izmed najboljših risarjev na Slovenskem. S svojimi upodobitvami se je znal na šaljiv in hudomušen način opredeliti do družbeno politične situacije v prvi polovici 20. stoletja. Njegov način upodabljanja je bil v danih razmerah precej problematičen, zato je že na začetku kariere postal žrtev političnega nasilja.
Bil je izjemno reven. Ob pomoči družine se je uspel vpisati na pravno fakulteto na Dunaju, ki pa jo je hitro opustil. Razvil je namreč veliko ljubezen do umetnosti in se je prvenstveno začel ukvarjati z risanjem. Kljub temu, da Hinko nikoli ni končal umetnostnega usposabljanja, se je skozi celotno kariero trudil, da je svoje znanje dopolnil s številnimi tečaji na šolah slikanja. Pogosto je zahajal tudi v Avstrijski muzej za umetnost in obrt, kjer je prerisoval in študiral predmete. Med bivanjem na Dunaju se je Smrekar pridružil likovnemu klubu Vesna. Vanj so se včlanili mladi in nadobudni slovenski ustvarjalci, ki so v naboru motivov stremeli k iskanju nacionalnih posebnosti. Hinko je bil med bolj dejavnimi člani, ki so takšno likovno snov pogosto vključili v svoja dela. S tem je Smrekar postal eden izmed začetnikov velike slovenske ilustracije.
Upodabljal je predvsem elemente iz slovanske folklore, še posebej pri slikanju ljudskih pripovedk. Čeprav se je Smrekar dobro znašel na Dunaju, ga je finančna stiska prisilila, da je mesto zapustil. Vrnil se je v domovino, nato pa le občasno potoval na Dunaj ali v München. Tekom plodovite umetnostne kariere je izdela serijo ilustracij za knjige in pesniške zbirke, občasno pa je v delo prejel tudi osnutek za plakat. V njegovem opusu najdemo tudi nekaj oljnih slik, perorisb in akvarelov, čeprav so te zastopane v manjšini. Poleg izjemnega smisla za ilustracijo, se je uveljavil tudi kot pionir čiste grafike na slovenskem. Ustvarjal je v jedkanici in akvatinti.
Je tudi avtor prvega taroka na slovenskem, ki je nastal med 1910 in 1912, nato pa se je lotil slikovne opreme za Levstikovega Martina Krpana. Začetni entuziazem nad ilustracijo je zamenjalo navdušenje nad karikaturo. V drugi fazi ustvarjanja, je folklorno motiviko nadomestil s portreti ljudi pri raznih opravilih. Upodobil je najrazličnejše poklice, nato pa se je lotil še satire. V zadnji fazi so njegova dela izžarevala jezo in negativni odnos do politike. S pomočjo karikatur je Hinko Smrekar opozarjal na agresijo režima in ljudi svaril pred hinavščino ter korupcijo. Med okupacijo je sodeloval v ilegali. Zajeli so ga fašisti, ki so v umetniku videli grožnjo in so ga v okolici Gramozne jame tudi ustrelili.
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. Smrekar, Hinko, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 4, Zagreb 1966, p. 248.
- Sarah DOLINŠEK, s. v. Ilustracija, Pojmovnik slovenske umetnosti po letu 1945, pp. 93-100.
- Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Smrekar, Hinko, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971, coll. 2004-2005.
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