(Zagorica, 23.8.1900-Ljubljana, 9.9.1975)
Tone Kralj was one of the few multi-talented artists who, during the 20th century, tried his hand at all fields of art. He mastered painting as well as illustration, graphics, sculpture, and he also made some pieces of furniture and interior design. Art was close to him from an early age. His father was an amateur carver, so he and his brother quickly mastered woodworking. He began to develop his artistic talent during his high school years. He was supported in this by his teacher Gašper Porenta, who gave him a cabinet in which he could create. For the first time, he exhibited his works together with other artists in the Tivoli pavilion. At the exhibition, he met Rihard Jakopič, who referred him to the academy in Prague. In the Czech capital, he hung out with Božidar Jakac, with whom they worked together in the graphic medium.
During his career as a painter, he developed his own individual style, which he maintained until his mid-20s. strongly influenced by brother France. Together they exhibited and produced Slovenian art for our nation. During this time, they founded the Club of Young Visual Artists, in which avant-garde creators in Slovenian gathered. In 1928, he married Mara Jeraj, who helped him paint many times. Tone Kralj's rich legacy contains the most genre motifs. They give a glimpse into the difficult life of workers and farmers in České Budějovice, which the artist became familiar with in the rural environment in which he grew up. Through his images, he defined himself critically towards their daily hardship, misery and struggle for survival. He also painted motifs from the history of Slovenes, e.g. military and peasant punts, and he devoted a lot of attention to the painting and interior decoration of churches on the littoral. He studied architecture for a short time in Venice and Rome, and applied the acquired skills to the design of a house in Ljubljana. This is considered a true masterpiece by Tone Kralj, in which expressionist expression prevailed over functionality. In his artistic expression, he strongly opposed the great totalitarian regimes and tried to elevate the Slovenian nation as much as possible. He searched for Slavic and typically Slovenian motifs, which he always included in his work. His artistic expression is accompanied by a feeling of suffering, pathos and fear. At times, the artist's expressiveness even seems terrifying, which is helped by the temperamental emotions of the Royal figures and the varied compositions, in which saturated colors enter. Irrespective of the artistic medium in which he created, the same impulses are noticeable in his oeuvre. The royal style went through different stages of development.
He began in Art Nouveau and Symbolist forms, which gave way to expressive expression and color symbolism. From 1927 onwards, he approached the new reality, and then he paid more and more attention to the narrative of the motif. This was most beautifully expressed in the monumental wall paintings, while he mainly highlighted social themes in oil. From the Second World War until the 1950s, he mainly painted war themes in a realistic manner. Throughout his life, he followed European art, but deliberately distanced himself from it in order to draw attention to problems on his home soil through his creativity. He received numerous awards for his work at home and abroad. Among the most important are the recognition from the Venice Biennale, in 1928, and the Prešeren Lifetime Achievement Award in 1972. Before the artist left us, he dedicated quite a few works to the gallery of Božidar Jakac in Kostanjevica na Krka, where he spent his last period.
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Tone Kralj je bil eden redkih vsestransko talentiranih umetnikov, ki so se tekom 20. stoletja preizkusili na vseh likovnih področjih. Obvladoval je tako slikarstvo kot tudi ilustracijo, grafiko, kiparstvo, izdelal pa je tudi kakšen kos pohištva in notranje opreme. Že od malih nog mu je bila umetnost blizu. Njegov oče je bil amaterski rezbar, zato sta skupaj z bratom zelo hitro osvojila obdelovanje lesa. Umetnostni talent je začel razvijati tekom gimnazijskih let. Pri tem ga je podprl učitelj Gašper Porenta, ki mu je odstopil kabinet v katerem je lahko ustvarjal. Prvič je svoja dela razstavil skupaj z drugimi umetniki v tivolskem paviljonu. Na razstavi je spoznal Riharda Jakopiča, ki ga je napotil na akademijo v Prago. V češki prestolnici se je družil z Božidarjem Jakcem s katerim sta skupaj ustvarjala v grafičnem mediju.
Tekom slikarske kariere je razvil svoj individualen slog, na katerega je do sredine 20. let. močno vplival brat France. Skupaj sta razstavljala in proizvajala slovensko umetnost za naš narod. V tem času sta ustanovila Klub mladih upodabljajočih umetnikov, v katerem so se zbirali avantgardni ustvarjalci na slovenskem. Leta 1928 se je poročil z Maro Jeraj, ki mu je večkrat pomagala pri slikanju. V bogati zapuščini Toneta Kralja je največ žanrskih motivov. Ti odstirajo pogled v težaško življenje delavcev in kmetov, s čimer se je umetnik seznanil v ruralnem okolju v katerem je odrastel. Preko svojih podob se je kritično opredelil do njihove vsakodnevne stiske, bede in borbe za preživetje. Slikal je tudi motive iz zgodovine Slovencev npr. vojne in kmečke punte, veliko pozornosti pa je posvetil poslikavi in notranji opremi cerkva na primorskem. Kratek čas je študiral arhitekturo v Benetkah in Rimu, pridobljene veščine pa je apliciral pri zasnovi hiše v Ljubljani. Ta velja za pravo mojstrovino Toneta Kralja v kateri je ekspresionistični izraz zavladal nad funkcionalnostjo. V svojem likovnem izrazu je na vso moč nasprotoval velikim totalitarističnim ureditvam in skušal čim bolj povzdigniti slovenski narod. Iskal je slovanske in tipično slovenske motive, ki jih je vselej vključeval v svoje delo. Njegov likovni izraz spremlja občutek trpljena, patos in strah. Umetnikova ekspresivnost na momente deluje celo grozljivo, k čemur pripomorejo temperamentna čustva Kraljevih figur in razgibane kompozicije, v katere vstopajo nasičene barve. Ne glede na to v katerem likovnem mediju je ustvarjal so v njegovem opusu opazni enaki vzgibi. Kraljev slog je prešel skozi različne faze razvoja.
Začel je v secesijskih in simbolističnih formah, ki so se umaknile ekspresivnemu izrazu in barvnemu simbolizmu. Od 1927 dalje se je približal novi stvarnosti, nato pa je vedno več pozornosti namenil narativnosti motiva. To se je najlepše izrazilo pri monumentalnih stenskih poslikavah, med tem ko je v olju izpostavil predvsem socialno tematiko. Od druge svetovne vojne pa do 50.ih je slikal predvsem vojno tematiko v realistični maniri. Skozi vse življenje je spremljal Evropsko umetnost, vendar se je od nje namerno distanciral, da bi preko svoje ustvarjalnosti opozoril na problematiko na domačih tleh. Za svoje delo je prejel številne nagrade doma in v tujini. Med najpomembnejše sodi priznanje iz beneškega bienala, leta 1928, in Prešernova nagrada za življenjsko delo leta 1972. Preden nas je umetnik zapustil, je kar nekaj del posvetil galeriji Božidarja Jakca v Kostanjevici na Krki, kjer je preživel zadnje obdobje.
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:
Špelca ČOPIČ, Slovensko slikarstvo, Ljubljana 1966.
Tosja KOZINA, s. v. Kralj, Tone (1900-1975), Primorski slovenski biografski leksikon, 8. sn. Kacin - Križnar, Gorica 1982, https://www.slovenska-biografija.si/oseba/sbi299895/ (29.6.2024).
Luc MENAŠE, s. v. Kralj Tone, Evropski umetnostno zgodovinski leksikon, Ljubljana 1971,
col. 1059.
France STELE, Slovenski slikarji, Ljubljana 1949, p. 147.
Marijan ZADNIKAR, s. v. Kralj, Tone, Matej, Enciklopedija Likovnih Umjetnosti, 3, Zagreb 1964, p. 238.
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