	Darko Lesjak, Slovenian artist and Reipka-master student

The Slovenian Maiden - wood carving by Tone Kralj

Idrija lace

Kralj revisits pure dance at Slovenia festival

† Zoran Mušic (1909 - 2005)

Albert Sirk

Marko Pernat

Silvester Komel

Andrea Bresciani (Dušan Brešan)- Marta Filli

The Painting of Beehive Fronts

Slavko Tihec (Sculptor)

July 10, 1928 - February 11, 1993

by B. Ježovnik

His life and work

Slavko Tihec was born on July 10, 1928, in Maribor as the third and last son of a railway official (by origin from Ponikve) and Marija, nee Zickar, from the village of Drnovo in the Krsko plain.

At the age of six he lost his father. Slavko's mother did not remarry, she brought up the children and looked after the family's needs. The future sculptor always had entertained a deep filial love for her.

He attended the elementary school in Maribor, but the Second World War interrupted his schooling. In 1942, the Germans, who had occupied that part of Slovenia, arrested all members of his family. The family experienced a great deal of suffering and persecution and this left a deep imprint in the sensitive boy.

After the war Tihec resumed his schooling at the first secondary school in Maribor. In the school's sculptural circle, headed by Professor Gabrijel Kolbic, he had his first serious encounters with art and received instructions for his early restless and unsteady steps in the world of sculptural forms. He was one of the most enthusiastic members of this circle where he met Vlasta Zorko, his future wife and sculptress.

Upon graduation from secondary school in 1948 Tihec attended a school for reserve officers as part of his military service at Kranj and Crnomelj.

In 1950 he enrolled in the department of sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. He studied under Professors Karel Putrih, Zdenko Kalin and Boris Kalin. He stayed the longest with the latter and in 1955 took his degree under him.

During his student years Tihec developed strong links with some of his contemporaries. On a trip to the Venice Biennial in 1954, a few students from the Academy joined to form the Be-54 Group (R. Kotnik, V. Snoj, P. Cerne and Slavko Tihec). They were united by their common work, but later the Group disintegrated.

After taking his degree Tihec returned to Maribor and worked as a free-lance artist. The year 1957 saw his first one-man exhibition at the Maribor Modern Gallery. In the same year he exhibited his sculptures together with the paintings of Avgust Cernigoj in the foyer of the Celje Theatre.

In 1958 he received the Mosa Pijade scholarship and went to Paris. In the French capital he stayed two months and for a few weeks studied in the studio of Johnny Friedlaender. Subsequently he made several study trips and visited Austria, Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Sweden and Denmark.

In those years the sculptor worked in a studio he had built for himself on the Obrezna cesta, near his home. In the autumn of 1958 he married the sculptress Vlasta Zorko.

The basic principles of Slavko Tihec's work are included in his stratified wooden balls

He made his debut in Ljubljana in 1958 when he held an exhibition in the Old Jakopic Pavilion together with the painter Rudi Kotnik. In 1959 the sculptor undertook his first major monumental work. On the scene of the last stand of the Pohorje Battalion a monument was erected dedicated to the fighters of this legendary Partisan unit in the Second World War.

In 1955 he became a member of the Maribor sub-committee of the Society of Slovenian Painters and Sculptors. From 1960 to 1962 he was its president, and in the subsequent two years its vice-president. This was a lively period in the existence of the sub-committee and there were many ideas about a new exhibition center in Maribor and many attempts to realize them. However, only many years later these ideas were brought into effect.

In 1960 Tihec was awarded the prize of the Maribor cultural review, as well as in 1961. In 1962 he received the first prize at the Forest and Timber Exhibition in Slovenj Gradec, and in the subsequent year the third prize at the V. Mediterranean Biennial in Alexandria. There followed other recognitions.

In the Viennese Gallery, TAO, he held in 1964 together with R. Kotnik his first exhibition abroad. In 1965 he held alone another exhibition in the same gallery. In 1966 he received the first prize at the competitions of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia for the outline of the revolution monument to be erected in Maribor.

In 1966 his works attracted attention in the Yugoslav pavilion at the XXXIII. Venice Biennial.

1967 - Tihec frequently exhibited at the Belgrade Triennial of Fine Arts and received a purchase prize in 1967. In the same year he was also awarded the Preseren Prize.

Tihec used to be a member of the artistic council of the international sculptural organization, Forma Viva. He also took part in two symposia of Forma Viva - at Ravne in 1964 (iron sculpture) and in Maribor ten years later (concrete sculpture in the city park).

1969 was a decisive year in his career. Since then he has taught at the department of sculpture of the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts. In the same year he was elected lecturer, in 1975 Professor in extraordinary and head of the sculpture department. In March 1979 he became Professor in ordinary.

He held one-man shows and group exhibitions, including the IX. Biennial of European Sculpture at Middelheim (Antwerp), the Biennial of Constructive Art in Nuremberg in 1969, the Exhibition of Yugoslav Art from "Prehistory to the Present Day" in Paris and Sarajevo in 1971, the I. and II. Biennial of Small Sculpture at Murska Sobota, the Exhibition of Contemporary Yugoslav Art in Tokyo in 1973, etc.

Since 1969 he has been a member of Group '69 and took part in all the exhibitions of this renowned group.

1970 - In a very strong competition, in 1970, he received the second prize at the Federal competition for the outline of the monument to the national liberation struggle to be erected on the Kozara.

In 1971 the President of the Republic decorated him with the Order for the Merits to the People with Silver Star.

In 1972 his sculpture of "interlocked cores", ranking among his major works, was erected in the Revolutionary Square in Ljubljana.

A very high recognition was given to Tihec with the Jakopic Prize in 1973. On this occasion an exhibition of his works was held at the Ljubljana Modern Gallery. In the same year he also received the first prize at the Panonia '73 Exhibition' at Szombathely, and the first prize at the 1. Yugoslav Biennial of small sculptures at Murska Sobota.

	Near the Castle of Maribor is the imposing Monument of Liberation , created by the sculptor Slavko Tihec. This work was erected in 1975.

1975 - The greatest monumental work of Tihec was erected in 1975 in the Square of Liberty in Maribor. The sculptor's concept of a monument dedicated to the national liberation struggle was realized in bronze, a concept opening up new monumental vistas and creative dimensions. Of special interest are the facial images of partisan heroes that seem to come to life when viewed at certain angles.

Composition: leaf object (welded iron)

Slavko Tihec enters the main stream of the contemporary art of sculpture at the threshold of the 1960s with metallic (welded iron and aluminum) leaf objects. Then he makes two further basic moves, with mobiles (kinetic objects made of polyester fiber), which he presented at an exhibition of constructive art at Nuremberg in 1969, and with containers, which resulted in an excellent monument dedicated to the National Liberation War created in 1975.

Magic blossoms

The sculptor passes from "figures of men and women, who are stretched like Lembrucks' figures", who do not embody only the sculptor's warm, sensual and plastically stressed" feelings, but also typically lyrical emotions characteristic of the Slovenian national mood, functioning in a picturesque way, to forms denoted by himself as "vegetative", and which resemble from far away enormous blossoms or hedgehogs spreading over wood or concrete, but which are initiated from completely different starting points. Tihec's works are always intended to be placed in parks, that is to say in the open air.

1976 - In the following period particular emphasis should be placed on four works

	•	A wall composition in wood at Hotel Donat (Rogaska Slatina, 1976).

	•	The sculpture, the Magic Sphere, in the Slovenian Salon in the palace of the Federal Executive Council in Belgrade (1976).

	•	A wall composition in stainless steel in the administrative building of the Ravne steelworks (1979);

	•	and the relief and the door at the central crematorium in Ljubljana (1979).

In 1979 he was one of the group of artists representing Yugoslavia on a big exhibition held in Madrid, Barcelona, Lisbon, London and Stockholm.

Tihec was included in a large review of Slovenian art over the past thirty years, an exhibition held at the Ljubljana Modern Gallery.

In the spring of 1979, in front of the Azman house at Bohinjska Bistrica his work, a monument to the historical consolidation meeting of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia held in March 1939, was unveiled (in timber).

In 1980 Slavko Tihec was awarded the Order of Work with a golden wreath. In 1980 he also participated for the second time in the Biennial of fine arts in Venice, where his works were exhibited in the Yugoslav pavilion.

After that the sculptor worked on one of his major projects; a sculpture dedicated to the memory of the Slovenian writer Ivan Cankar, which was placed in front of the "Ivan Cankar Arts Centre" in Ljubljana.

Comments:

Slavko Tihec was an excellent sculptor from the communist era. As a matter of fact, young Slavko found himself caught in the stream of this political regime, without being able to pursue his own creations. His talent was noticed by communists and they made full use of it. Slavko was brought up in a nonpolitical atmosphere, thinking only about his own career, and how to make a living.

I have known him from the times when he was still a freshman of the school of arts and have followed his career to the day he died.

It was beneficial to him to receive government orders that allowed him to sculpture his none political ideas of work. With this kind of motivation in the sixties, I went with him to Okrajni Ljudski Odbor Maribor (Municipal Government of Maribor) to discuss a proposal for the erection of a monument that nowadays stands in front of Maribor castle. As you see, these things take a long time to achieve. In 1975 he finally built the monument. Politically it did not matter to him, how communists would call the monument. Important was, that he received the order, and he confided in me that he would call the monument "svera casa" (time capsule), meaning that everything has passed and is locked in this time capsule for eternity. "Whatever is behind the bars of the time capsule, will stay there. So will Yugoslavian Party politicians, whose faces are locked up behind sculptured bars."

Of special interest are the facial images of partisan heroes that seem to come to life when viewed at certain angles. His works, which requires to combine picture and sculpture, is a task not easily performed.

Similar explanations had Tihec for other political orders given to him by the communist government, which I am not to discuss here. The important point for Tihec was to discover and to create. He has done tremendous work in his field as a good technician and an excellent sculptor. He carried Slovenia's name throughout the world.

In 1992,shortly before his death in February 1993 I visited him one more time in his studio in Maribor. He had cancer and he knew that death was near. With tears in his eyes he explained to me that he does not fear his end, but because he had tremendous unfinished work ahead of him.

Darko Lesjak,

Slovenian artist and Reipka-master student

Darko Lesjak was born in 1966 in Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia.

His education:

1981 – 1985 he studied at the School of Design in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

1987 – 1992 he made his Diploma course of educational art at the Maribor teacher training

college, Slovenia

1992 – 1999 he devoted himself to the study of painting (with Diploma) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Jürgen Reipka, Master student

1999 – 2002 he assumed teaching activity at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich as assistant for painting.

Since 2002 Darko Lesjak is a freelanced artist in Munich. In addition, he is working as a designer, curator and art educationalist.

Human chain, 1997, Float glass painting, 5 x 3 m, Academy of Fine Arts Munich, annual exhibition.

Dynamics of Being

Spontaneously and powerful the pictorial gestures of Darko Lesjak unload themselves on canvas, in Glass paintings, in Monotypes and in Art in Construction. An intensive color cosmos underscores the dynamics of Being. The Slovenian artist and Reipka-master student prefers colours in blue, yellow, orange and green.

One of his glass mosaics is to be found in the catholic St. Elisabeth Church in Berlin- Schöneberg.

Blessedly Anton Martin Slomsek, 2002, Glass window for church St. Elisabeth Schöneberg, Berlin,

149 x 245 cm, working situation in the Facilities for Glass painting Gustav van Treeck, Munich.

Some of his successes and achievements:

Exhibition participations since 1982

1982 Piran, Slovenia, "International Youth Ex Tempore"

1985 Ljubljana, Slovenia, Degree exhibition of School of Design in Ljubljanska Banka

1988 Maribor, Slovenia, "Annale´88"

1989 Maribor, Slovenia, "Annale´89",

since 1993 Munich, Annual exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts

1994 Passau, Kulturmodell, Passau, Café Museum Wörlen,

1996 Passau, Gallery Kulturmodell, "Passau Monotypes" Wasserburg, Gallery Ganserhaus, "Passau Monotypes" Konstanz, "Art on Pavement"

1997 Oelshausen, DORF-eigen-ART, Munich, Böhmler House

1998

Santiago de Compostela, Spain, "Monotypes",

Berlin, Gallery Schrade, "Monotypes",

Munich, Kunstforum Arabellapark, "Zehn Hoch Eins“

Big flying shape 4, 1999, oil on canvas, 200 x 500 cm

1999

Pontevedra, Spain, University Gallery

Waldkraiburg, House of Culture

Munich, Gallery of KHG, "Leo 11 – Artgenossen”

Munich, Haus der Kunst

Pfarrkirchen, Hans-Reiffenstuel-House, "Color and Light“

Modification 3, 2002, Glass painting, 100 x 130 cm

2000

Scheuring, Sattler Glass Gallery

Liege, Belgium, Euro Fire 2000

Weiden, Town Hall

Munich, Haus der Kunst

Passau, Kulturmodell

Haidmühle, "Banner of Peace“

2001

Kairo, Egypt, 8th International Kairo Biennale

Piran, Slovenia, Gallery Herman Pecaric,"Piranhas“

Augsburg, Diözesanmuseum, "Color and Light“

Pfarrkirchen, Hans-Reiffenstuel-House, "Color and Light“

Marktoberdorf, Urban Gallery

Veszprem, Hungary

Kleine Impression in Gelb 1, 2000, Monotypie, 67,5 x 50 cm

2002

Piran, Slovenia, Gallery Herman Pecaric,"Piranje“

Munich, Haus der Kunst

Kötzting, Gallery Woferlhof, “My Artists“

Dachau, Town Hall, "Dignity of Man“

West LaHave, Kanada, "Color and Light“

2003

Mochental, Castle Gallery

Kötzting, Gallery Woferlhof, “My Artists“

Linnich, German Stained Glass Museum

Green diaphane structure, 1999, Float glass painting,

218 x 99 cm, German Glass Painting Museum Linnich

2004

Kötzting, Gallery Woferlhof (with C. Kochs, D. Schrade und A. Pfrieger)

Kötzting, Gallery Woferlhof, “My Artists“

2005

Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia, Urban Gallery, "Živeti“

Timmendorfer Strand, Spa Hotel

Citadella, Italien, Chiesa del Torresino

Gent, Belgien, Art exhibition

Art fair ART Gent, Belgium, December 2005

Grants and Awards

1989 - 1992 Munda-Culture Grant of the Slowenian Republik

1992 Award as one of the best graduates of Maribor University

1997 Danner price, class project graphical folder, Munich

1998 – 1999

Working grant „Open Studio“ of Penzberg town

Paintings in Public and Private Collections

Hypo-Bank, Munich

Graphical Collection, Passau

Kitchen and Art, Pforzheim

Gorenje, Munich

LV1871, Munich

Galerija Likovnih umetnosti, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia

German Stained Glass Museum, Linnich

Christa Probst Foundation

Structures 1, 2004, graphite on paper, 48 x 36 cm

Catalogues

1997 "Lesjak" Gallery KHG Text: Breda Illich-Klancnik

1998 "Float Glass Painting", Gallery Gustav van Treeck - Bayerische Hofglasmalerei, Text: Dr. Michaela Haibl

1999 " Open studio Penzberg", Town Hall passage Penzberg, Text: Dr. Michaela Haibl, "Spring" (flyer) , Gallery KHG, Text: Jochen Meister

2000 "Dynamis", Urban Gallery Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia, Text: Milena Zlatar, Dr. Gerhard Wohlmann

2002 "In Motion", Georg-Meistermann-Museum, Wittlich, Text: Dr. Suzanne Beeh-Lustenberger, Dr. Justinus Maria Calleen

Art in Construction

Dormitory Oberschleißheim, Mural

Technical College Deggendorf, Glass creation

Church St. Andreas, Roßhaupten, 2 Choral windows

Church St. Elisabeth Schöneberg, Berlin, Gallery window

Several private glass creations

Moved in yellow, 1999, Float glass painting, 150 x 250 cm, Installation in front of private cladding

(June 13, 2008)

Source: Berliner Morgenpost

Darko Lesjak webpage

The Slovenian Maiden:

The Plain Dealer

Cleveland, May 12, 2007

The Slovenian maiden, found and restored after having been abandoned in the basement of Cleveland City Hall, will make her triumphant return to prominence Friday. Samuel Zbogar, Slovenia's ambassador to America, will rededicate the 42-inch statue, carved from wood by artist Tone Kralj and originally given to Cleveland in 1938 as a gift from the mayor of Ljubljana, during a ceremony Friday.

The restored statue will sit on an impressive wooden pedestal at the entrance to the mayor's office. The pedestal was crafted, and the restoration work done, by local artists Timothy Riffle and Charles Gliha.

Dragan Arrigler / Idrija lace. Traditional handicrafts can still be found in many rural areas of Slovenia: lace, woodcarving, pottery, crystal, as well as other products are living proof of Slovenia's ethnic pride and heritage.

Kralj revisits pure dance at Slovenia festival


	Isabelle Kralj


	Artistic Director


	A native of Milwaukee, Isabelle Kralj received her MFA in Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Her professional career includes the Milwaukee Ballet, Slovenian National Theater Ballet, Chamber Dance Theater, and Dance Opus 6. Kralj has performed in Germany, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and throughout the United States. In 1985, she began developing her own work, and has created many multi-disciplinary theater pieces… She is the niece of Elvira Kralj, a well-known Slovenian actress.

Milwaukee, September 6, 2006

by Toni Strini

Isabelle Kralj, founder of Milwaukee Dance Theatre, has a special relationship with Slovenia. Her parents were born there and had careers as actors before emigrating to America and Milwaukee, and they are buried in Slovenia.


After dancing in the Milwaukee Ballet, Kralj was a soloist in the Slovenian National Ballet in the late 1970s, when the small nation was part of Yugoslavia.

Last year, she returned to the company as a guest choreographer. On Sept. 14, she will return again to Slovenia to create another piece for the National Ballet. With playwright, actor, director and performance artist Mark Anderson as co-director, Kralj's Milwaukee Dance Theatre has tilted more and more toward theater in recent years. The Slovenian ballet projects took Kralj back toward pure dance.

"Mark and I did three different versions of a piece about the span of a relationship," Kralj said. She referred to "He, She and Guy," which was about half script and half dance; "My Elephant Dream," all text; and "The Initial Urge to Suck," a play with some movement.


"I thought, What would this piece look like if it were just dance?' " she said.


The answer was "I Still Don't Know," the duet she made for the Slovenian National Ballet last year.

This fall, she's moving on to the theme of returning not only to the homeland, but also to the earth. Kralj personally brought her parents' remains back to the Old Country. Voice-over text for the piece will draw on words on a plaque at the grave. She could have used a large ensemble of dancers, but this piece, too, will be a duet.

"I've learned something about myself," she said. "I'm always interested in the intimate."

Kralj's dances are connected with the Slovenian National Ballet's annual New Choreography Festival. Last year and this year, Kralj was and is the only choreographer on the festival who does not reside in Slovenia.

The festival requires choreographers to use music by a Slovenian composer, past or present. Last year, Kralj worked with composer Borut Krzisnik, who is perhaps best known for his score for "A Life in Suitcases," a Peter Greenaway film. This year, she will use voice- over text, a Slovenian folk tune, and perhaps some existing music by Krzisnik.

The American embassy has extended financial support to Kralj's projects and made the new one part of a monthlong American cultural festival in Slovenia.

The new piece will open in the capital, Ljubljana, on Oct. 1, and then tour to other Slovenian cities. It will also be broadcasted nationally on state television.

E-mail Tom Strini at tstrini@journalsentinel.com.

Contact: Isabelle Kralj, Artistic Director

Milwaukee Dance Theatre

342 N. Water Street, Ste. 400

Milwaukee, WI 53201-1999

414/273-9920

Email: "mdt@wi.rr.com"

Web: "http://home.wi.rr.com/mdt"

~~~

† Zoran Mušic (1909 - 2005)

by Dr. Jožko Šavli

Zoran Mušic, the famous Slovenian painter of modern art, passed away on May 25, 2005 in Venice. He was born in Gorica - Gorizia, in Littoral. At the outbreak of the First World War his family moved to Carinthia. He completed successfully the Secondary School of Maribor, and graduated from the Academy of Zagreb. Then he took up residence in Dalmatia for several years, and traveled extensively. In 1943, he moved to Venice, but in 1944 the Gestapo sent him to Dachau, which he survived. A great number of his paintings witnessed the lager life that he had experienced during the war.

Peasant women from the South, oil on canvas, 1955

In the postwar time, his autonomous conceived works received great attention. In 1952, an exposition of his works was prepared in the Galerie de France, in Paris. As a representative of the École de Paris he had many expositions all over Europe and North America. Among Slovenian painters, Zoran Mušic is one of the best known and best-recognized artists on the international level. From the works he left behind, is also a part of his great artistic legacy to be found in Slovenia.

~~~

Albert Sirk

A Marine Painter of outstanding artistic ability

His work and message still has to be discovered

to the very extent in its uniqueness

1887 - 1947

Albet Sirk, portrait of 1928

by Dr. Jožko Šavli

Several years ago, the Slovenian daily in Trieste published an article about a painter by the name of Albert Sirk. At that time, I was not very familiar with Slovenian painters, except several impressionists from the turn of the 20th century, and I had no idea of the work and life of the painter presented by the magazine. The article did not touch me at all, only a few words remained in my memory: a Slovenian "marinist". Only recently I started to discover several Slovenian artists, poets, writers - men and women... who quasi had fallen into oblivion, and among them I found Albert Sirk's name once again.

Actually, his name was not concealed to the Slovenian public. But the books of art usually overlook his work entirely. I believe, this is still the after-affect of the deeply rooted idea planted into Slovenian minds, that they are nothing more than Alpine people. It could have been an ideological directive of the former Yugoslav regime. Anyway, the political and cultural establishment of Lublana, the capital of Slovenia, continued to spread such an "Alpine" ideology, monopolising in this way the Slovenian cultural scene.

I still remember, that because of such a reduction of Slovenian cultural extensiveness, several writers from Littoral, particularly those from Trieste, protested many times and stressed that the Slovenian culture has also historical roots of Mediterranean dimension. But their protest was usually ignored. By all means, it is possible, that the artistic work of Albert Sirk was the victim of such an ideology, too.

Albert Sirk: without title - marine, oil on jute

Albert Sirk's Life

It was still the time of the Austrian Monarchy, when Albert came into the world in Sv. Križ, a Slovenian village located high above the Gulf of Trieste, on the edge of the Carst plateau. Soon after his father left for Pola (Istria), where he laboured in the arsenal. There, young Berto (Albert) went to elementary school, which he completed in his native village after the family's return. From 1908 until 1912, he served in the Navy. Then, he frequented a course at the Academy of Arts in Venice for one year, and finished it in Urbino. In this way, he established himself as a drawing teacher, and began to teach at the schools in Trieste.

He was recruited to the army during the WW1, and was fortunate enough to pass the war without injuries. After the war, when Trieste and Littoral came under Italy, hard times lay ahead for Slovenians living in this area. Anyway, in the first years after the war their cultural life was very vivacious. Albert Sirk too was a very active young man. He collaborated with the famous playwright Jaka Štoka from the neighbouring village Prosek, and liked to play the comic roles in his burlesques. But after some years, the Italian Fascist regime suspended Slovenian schools and prohibited any kind of Slovenian cultural activity.

However, Albert's main interest was the art of painting, to which he had committed himself since his youth. In spite of the Fascist oppression, in 1927, there still presented itself an opportunity to prepare an exposition of Slovenian paintings in Sv. Ivan, a suburb of Trieste. It was a turning-point in the history of Slovenian painters from the Trieste area. Their works of art, among them also those of Albert Sirk, reached the wide public. But the times were not right for Albert Sirk to enjoy thoroughly his first success. Under the pressure of the Italian Fascist apparatus, which ruled the town, he lost his job. He did not succeed to find another employment and felt constrained, like so many other Slovenians, to leave Littoral for Yugoslavia (Slovenia), in 1929.

Albert Sirk: My Mother, oil on canvas (1929)

His first appointment was as a teacher at Št. Lenart School, east of Maribor. Since 1937, he taught at the gymnasium at Celje. But Slovenian consciousness evidently disturbed the then Yugoslav (great-Serbian) regime. In fact, he presented his first request for a permanent teaching position already in 1930, and he repeated his request in the following years. But the Ministry of Education in Belgrade either rejected them or failed to answer. Indeed, in Yugoslavia he never was given a full time job, and in this way the right to a retirement pension.

In 1941, under the German occupation, he was exiled together with other Slovenians to Srbia, and lived in Zajecar. In 1945, he returned to Slovenia, and started to teach again at the gymnasium in Celje. Then, he laboured in Trieste (at that time an English-American military zone), where an industrial school of painting was founded. In the meantime he made himself at home again among his people in his native village of Sv. Križ. Then, in the spring of 1946, he began to teach at the teacher's college in Portorož. But in the following year he felt already the signs of a heart and kidney failure. All medical help could not save him, and he died in Celje at the very age of 60.

Today, in his native village of Sv. Križ the elementary school as well as the cultural club bear his name. A retrospective exposition of his opera was prepared for the 25th anniversary of his death in the Municipal Gallery (now Nautical Museum) of Piran, in 1972. But in reality, his artistic opera was never presented to the broader public of Slovenia on a proper level it deserves.

His Work

A single article is not enough to present Albert Sirk's opera to the very extent. It is true, that we have at our disposal a monograph concerning his work and life (Trieste 1952). It was published by Fran Šijanec, his school fellow at the gymnasium in Celje. A good monograph for that period of time, but it still presents Sirk's works of art far too moderate. In fact, Albert Sirk was outstanding in his field, his artistic talents reach the European level of standards.

Already in his youth Albert Sirk showed an unstoppable inclination for painting. After the end of the WW1 he began to create very interesting works, which depict a series of motifs. He painted landscapes, fishing scenes, marines, some beautiful portraits... As already mentioned, the public discovered his talent on the exposition of 1927. From this period the portrait called "My Mother" (1929) must be considered one of his most matured works. After he left Sv. Križ for abroad he said farewell to his mother, who he never saw again. The portrait of his mother, showing a woman with a red kerchief on her head, with a wrinkled face and small blue eyes, is living in each and every trait of his brush.

Albert Sirk: Destroyed Port of Sv. Križ, (1946)

It seems, that he was aware of the fact, that the idyllic countryside of his native village will suffer damages in foreseeable time. Therefore he wanted to perpetuate its beauty in his paintings. It was a message to the country-fellows out of love for cultural values, as to preserve the image of the natural and cultural millieu, which inspires the artist as well as the everyday man in his daily mission in life and creativity. Paintings like "The Fisher's Port of Sv. Križ" (1922) and "The Destroyed Port of Sv. Križ" (1946) illustrate his message very clearly. Some of his paintings seem to be flooded by the sea water. For the painter, the sea was evidently much more then only an immense azure superficies. It meant survival for the people of his native village and the fisher families.

In regards to the painting motifs, the above-mentioned works characterize the first period of his artistic creation. The motifs predominantly show the surroundings, where he spent his childhood. Very interesting, for example, was the particular way of fishing. A heavy work, which by an approaching storm also could be perilous. In this connection the tunny fishing very probably was the most spectacular. His aquarelle called "Tunny-fishing at Sv. Križ" (1931) is the most characteristic motif of this kind. He did not want to sell it but rather kept it until his death in memory of his native village.

Albert Sirk: Tunny-fishing at Sv. Križ, aquarelle (1931)

When Albert Sirk moved to Celje, in 1937, he dedicated himself to the painting of marines, i. e., seascapes, for which he felt a very inclination. Paintings of this kind depict sea motifs and people's life on and beside the sea. The great French and English school of marine painting of the 19th century was already a thing of the past, and now he developed his own style, i. e., a very Slovenian marine art of painting. It became the most characteristic part of his entire artistic opera. Among the many hundreds of his marine pictures, the motifs from the surroundings of his native Sv. Križ prevailed, and so did those from Dalmatia: the picturesque coast and sea, barges, and idyllic scenes of the fisher's life.

Memories of his native village at the coast accompanied him during all his life, until his death. It was a painful memory, but it gave him the artistic inspiration and creative strength. One time he said to his friend Lojze Bizjak: Look, the sea made me what I am. Already at that time, as a young boy, I defied the waves in a simply fishing boat. I grew up with the sea, on it I spent my most beautiful years, and I am still living with it today, when I am painting it on canvas... The sea was for him a symbol of fight for survival, as well as a symbol of freedom, for which he was always longing.

The marines express also the author's humour and spiritual message. In this message the sea is presented instinctively as a symbol of life and survival. The motifs show panoramas by sunshine, sunset, clouds, rain, storm... They always express beauty and sentiments, even then, when nature's forces raged at the time they were created. On another occasion he declared to his friend: ... It is not true, that the impression alone is sufficient for an artist, it is also necessary to have the experience. In this way, both of them are joined in an entirety and revive a true life...The beauty of the paintings was born from his optimism in life. Thus, in spite of his unsecured social position, he was a cheerful man and liked the company.

Albert Sirk: The Barbana Pilgrims, oil on canvas (1946)

Indirectly, his religiousness is evident through the paintings, too. In several of them, like "Our Lady of Devin", or "Christ among the Fishers" (1935), it is also openly manifested. He never failed in the faith, which he received through the education in his youth. In this connection, an event from his youth remained in his mind for ever: it was the once a year pilgrimage of the fishers in a barge to St. Mary's church on Barbana isle, situated in a lagoon near Grado. After the end of the WW2, he created a painting called "The Barbana Pilgrims" (1946), which has to be considered one of his top works, too. This painting presents: A barge speeding away with all the force, because the sea is raging, and the sky is menacingly dark and cloudy; in the barge with spread out sail two fishermen from Sv. Križ are rowing with all their strength; they are desperate to find shelter in Barbana: a mother with child, another woman, an older man with a cross in his hand, and the rowers themselves.

The painting symbolically shows a "life boat", the crew is withstanding troubles and shocks, they have faith and confidence in God and in Mary's help. These were his fellow countrymen, industrious, honest and faithful. In spite of all the hardships in their life they kept their courage and cheerfulness. The painting is like a spontaneous message, that Albert Sirk already close to the end of his life, left to the Slovenian people.

Not followed by the critics

Sirk's paintings were displayed in many expositions, prepared by several institutions, in particular by the art club "Brazda" of Maribor. The expositions took place in Celje, Maribor, Lublana, Belgrade, Skopje... Articles about the paintings yielded great acknowledgement in the newspapers. All over the Yugoslavia of that time people appreciated Sirk's works and wanted to purchase them. It is said, that today most of his paintings are found in Belgrade. In opposite to this, the art critics were not very benevolent towards him.

It seems that the reason for the critics' unfavourable attitude was pure formalism. It is true that between the WW1 and the WW2, already more modern art currents prevailed in Slovenia, like everywhere else in Europe. There was Expressionism, Surrealism, Constructivism... In such surroundings, the art critics were no longer in a position to appreciate the true value of Sirk's paintings of late Impressionism, i.e., the artistic style, which was popular before the WW1. They appraised the paintings by comparing them with well-known works which they had studied in school.

Albert Sirk: Fishers of Barkovle are setting out for Piran to fish anchovies, oil on canvas

In those days, it is true, there were only a few art critics in Slovenia, and they volens nollens monopolized the field of painting evaluation. Let us suppose, if more Slovenian art products would have been evaluated, irrespective of artistic style or given period of time in which the paintings were created, Albert Sirk's opera also would have reached the level they deserve.

But Albert Sirk did not follow the contemporary art currents of the so-called "art nouveau" launched by the artistic world in the then Yugoslavia, in which the Parisian styles were imitated. In this connection, it is very interesting to know a part of the conversation he had with his friend Lojze Bizjak: Why should I search and copy others, who did not experience and live in my world. This world is not of today, and it did not arise over night, it is a confluence of many generations of fishers and mariners ... We do not forget so many victims of our nation, we do not forget Bazovica and so many heroes... (In Bazovica above Trieste, Slovenian patriots of his native Littoral were shot after being condemned by the Fascist trial in 1930.)

Another reason for his incomprehension could have been the then local millieu of Lublana, which after the WW1 became the cultural and political centre for Slovenians. Nevertheless, in many aspects Lublana still remained a provincial town for a long time. The leading circles of the town did not possess a Slovenian national horizon. So, in order to acknowledge the artistic opera of someone, the acquaintances and ties with important persons was more important, and the quality of art took the second place. In such a millieu Sirk's artistic message with its Mediterranean string was outside of the artistic horizon of Lublana, whose public was not able to understand it.

The critics could have given more credit to Sirk's artistic production, but under the given circumstances not one of them ventured to suggest an honest evaluation. More or less, they continued their repetitious criticisms about Albert Sirk, adding into their comments any element. Let as quote one such critical phrase from the post-war period: ... Sirk studied in Venice and in Urbino, regretfully for too brief a time, even though he had already proven his talent and diligence by that time. After his fortunes had dramatically reversed, he dedicated himself to the art of painting. His lack of basic knowledge became obvious on occasion but only with regards to particular conceptual elements. (Janez Mesesnel, 1972). Thus, some optional phrases only, without to adduce concrete examples.

But it was not only Albert Sirk, who did not receive from his native country Slovenia (Yugoslavia) a well deserved share of attention between the WW1 and WW2. Another painter from Littoral, Lojze Špacapan (Spazzapan), who after WW1 came to Lublana, returned to Littoral (Italy). Later his paintings received great acknowledgement in Turin. Another painter, Veno Pilon by name, found great appreciation in Paris, only after that his opera received attention in Slovenia too. - If Albert Sirk would have lived and been creative outside of the country, and won acknowledgement, which appears to be self evident to us, his opera too would have ranked among the top Slovenian art paintings. But his life and his creativity belonged to his native country, and in spite of his popularity throughout the then Yugoslavia, he is even today practically ignored in Slovenia. Why so?

One can not exclude the possibility that Albert Sirk and his opera might have been a victim of the hegemonistic Belgrade policy toward Slovenia. Indeed, he was discriminated, a full-time teaching position was denied to him already under the then centralistic Belgrade regime before the WW2. Under the totalitarian Communist regime of the second Yugoslavia art criticism was firmly controlled by the authorities. Why did the controlled criticism of the second Yugoslavia not include Sirk's opera in Slovenia's art review of paintings? Because, I think, by omitting his collection, the amount of Slovenian art paintings would be considerably reduced at the same time. It is true, that Slovenian art painting became limited to its Alpine dimension, and in this way it did not surpass the art of other Yugoslav peoples. It was the so-called "levelling" policy of the hegemonistic oligarchy in the one-time Yugoslavia.

Regretfully, in present-day Slovenia the situation did not change at all. In the museums and galleries of Lublana and other cities of Slovenia, one hardly comes across any paintings from Sirk. Moreover, the books, in which the Slovenian art of painting is presented, Albert Sirk's opera continues to be omitted. Very uncommon! Be that as it may, after half a century, since Sirk's death, his opera deserves to be appreciated in their very value and should be presented to the public in its full extent. In the summit of Slovenian paintings, there certainly is still room, which expects to be occupied by Albert

Sirk.

~~~

Marko Pernat

His Art Paintings and its Carantanian Message

1824 - 1871

Marko Pernat (1824 - 1871)

a painting by Preisegger, oil on canvas (1854)

by Dr. Jožko Šavli

In the 19th century, he was the most famous painter of Carinthia (Austria). He is generally known by his official German name as Markus Pernhart. But other records indicate also different ways of spelling his surname, like Bernhard, Bernhad, Pernath, Pernhardt. His original name was Marko Pernat (written as Pernath), and he was a Slovenian from eastern Carinthia. The surname Pernat literally means "feathered", but there are also other possible explanations. Anyway, still today Slovenian surnames like this one are widespread in the area of Carinthia and Styria.

In the present-day German speaking part of Carinthia, it has never been pointed out that this great painter was of Slovenian origin, albeit his name appears in all Carinthian and Austrian manuals on art paintings. It is almost, as if Austria is ashamed to acknowledge his non-German origin, even though they boast about themselves, that the ancient Austrian Monarchy was a confederation of nations, i.e., a small Europe several centuries before the modern idea of a unified Europe even started.

Marko Pernat's family originated