Ivan Generaliс was born on December 21 in a small Croatian village of Hlebine, into an ordinary rural family. From early childhood, he was fond of drawing, using all his spare time for this.
1914 - 1992
Ivan Generalić
description
A Croatian artist, one of the greatest representatives of the naive art of the twentieth century. Ivan Generalić attracted the attention of the public with his personal exhibition in Paris in 1953, thanks to which interest in the original art of self-taught artists was revived all over the world, and the work of the Croat won immense popularity and gained thousands of admirers.
Generalić actively developed his art school in Hlebine, which played a crucial role in Croatian art, held exhibitions around the world, winning awards and honors, was a member of the Union of Croatian Artists and had a large number of students. The artist became a legend during his lifetime, and his work is an integral part of Croatian and world art.
Key ideas:
– The work of the Croatian artist originates from folk art – original, emotional, sincere and truthful. The paintings of Generalic are distinguished by bright individuality and a special style, easy and understandable for everyone. He does not invent anything new, just paints animals, fields and forests, winter and autumn, people in their holidays and weekdays.
– The artistic method of the artist is distinguished by the excessive decorativeness, bright color palette and emotional expressiveness.
– French critic Marcel Arland wrote about the artist, “He was born by the earth. He is wise and charming, and he does not need any teachers.”
– Most of the canvases are devoted to the traditions and everyday life of the Croatian village, in which Ivan Generalic lived and worked. In them, we can see the wedding procession, summer holiday, harvesting, and even grazing pigs and cows.
– The artist’s early works often referred to social themes, the injustices of the state and officials towards the peasants, their hard work. These themes are depicted in the paintings “Requisition (1934), “Đelekovec uprising”(1936), and others. Art critics conventionally called this period “childish”, because there is awkwardness in the image, imitation, and even copying.
– Soon, the themes of the work of Generalic become strongly socially biased – this “land” period gives works that are more mature and original.
– In the lyric period, “Belcanto”, a rather long one that captured the 1950s, the naivist becomes more distracted, turns to the landscape and searches for his own palette and techniques of contrast and decorative depiction of each element. His late works depict mythical, fairy-tale creatures, mysterious symbols, characters of fairy tales and legends. The heroes of the paintings are unicorns, water creatures, witches and other evil spirits.
– In several paintings, the author addresses a religious theme.
1914
1919
1931
1932 - 1936
1945
1952
1953
1960
1975
1992
The birth of the artist
He developed his naïve style
He met famous artist and ideologist of naive K. Hegedusic, who noticed the talent of the teenager and became his teacher. Thanks to Hegedusic, he developed his naïve style, participated in exhibitions and met other primitive artists. In the early works of the artist, the influence the style of his mentor is noticeable.
For the first time, he demonstrated his works
For the first time, he demonstrated his works at the exhibition organized by his patron Hegedusic, in which other young primitive artist, Franjo Mraz and Mirko Virius, participated as well. These painters became close friends and associates of the artist. They formed the first generation of primitives of the Hlebine school.
Closely collaborated with the artists of the group "Earth"
Closely collaborated with the artists of the group “Earth”, which focused on social themes and fought for equality of people. The works of this period are characterized by socially and politically colored themes. The artist depicted the injustice of the authorities towards the peasants, their slave labor. The vivid examples of this were the works “Requisition” (1934), “Đelekovec uprising” (1936), and many others. In 1934, Generalic married Anka Kollerk; in 1935, their son Joseph was born; he then also worked in the visual arts.
Formed the second generation of primitive artists
After the end of the Second World War, during which the artist worked on the paintings of the temple in the Croatian Zagorje, he returned to his native Hlebine. Here the artist found his first students – talented local boys Francis Dolenek, Franio Filipovic and Dragan Gazi. As once Hegedusic for him, he became a mentor for these young people, who developed and continued the traditions of the art school in Hlebine. Soon, they were joined by several peasant artists from other settlements, forming the second generation of primitive artists.
In Zagreb, The Peasant Art Gallery was founded
In Zagreb, The Peasant Art Gallery was founded (now the Croatian Museum of Naive Art), whose permanent collection was based mainly on works donated to the museum by Generalic. Peasant artists from all over Croatia exhibited their paintings here.
The personal exhibition in Paris
The key event in the artist’s career was his personal exhibition in Paris, where he presented 36 of his works. The work of the Croatian primitivist attracted widespread attention and positive feedback from critics, which marked the beginning of the popularity of Generalic, as well as of the entire naive Croatian art. After this successful exhibition, the artist was invited to participate in various expositions around the world. One of the most successful was the 1958 World Expo in Brussels.
A large and important personal exhibition
A large and important personal exhibition of Ivan Generalic was held, first in the capital, in the Gallery of Primitive Art, and then in the Art Gallery of Rijeka. The pictures received many positive reviews, including from well-known art critics. In the 60s, the artist became a recognized master who had many admirers and followers. Despite fame and honor, Generalic continued to live and work in the village.
After the death of his wife, he left for Sigetech
After the death of his wife, he left for Sigetech, a village not far from Hlebine, where he got married a second time and lived until the end of his life. The artist rarely painted, was engaged in daily rural affairs and house work. He gave advices to novice artists who came to him with their works.
On November 27, the artist died
On November 27, the artist died, living to his old age and taking advantage of his deserved worldwide fame. The interior that existed during the life of Generalic is preserved in his Hlebine house-museum. Also, works of Ivan and his son Joseph are exhibited there.