Menci Clement Crnčić
Encyclopedia
Menci Clement Crnčić was a Croatian painter, printmaker, teacher and museum director. He studied painting and drawing in Vienna and Munich, and trained in graphic arts in Vienna, studying etching and engraving. He was the first artist in the Croatian graphic tradition to abandon a strictly linear style and use tonal variation to create contrasting areas of light and shade.
Crnčić established himself as a marine artist with a series of paintings of the Istrian peninsula and the Adriatic coast. He was one of the founders of the first private painting school in Zagreb, which grew to become part of the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb. He taught there until the end of his life. He became a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1919, and was the Director of The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
from 1920-1928.
Menci Clement Crnčić is among the founders of modern Croatian painting, contributing greatly to its development. He promoted landscape painting, mainly seascapes, using light, colour, and soft strokes in an impressionist style. He was the founder of modern Croatian graphic art, and played an important role in teaching several generations of Croatian painters.
(now Bruck an der Mur
, Austria
). His father, a border official, intended his son for the military, so after elementary school in Vienna, Menci attended a military grammar school. At seventeen he decided to leave military school and study painting. Following two years at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, 1882–1884, he stayed in Coburg
for a year (1886–1887) painting sets for the theatre. Not having sufficient funds to continue his studies, he lived in Nova Gradiška
with his sister Marie, painting landscapes and portraits. Between 1889-1892 he continued his art education at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
under professor Nicolaus Gysis.
After graduating, Crnčić taught painting in the Arts and Crafts School in Zagreb, but in 1894 Iso Kršnjavi, the Director of the Institute for Education and Theology recognized Crnčić's talent for drawing. He arranged a scholarship for Crnčić to study etching
and engraving
in Vienna under the tuition of the graphic artist Wiliam Unger. For part of that time, due to Unger's illness, Crnčić stayed with the professor and his family in Lovran
on the Croatian coast. While there, he painted scenes of the Istria
n peninsula and along the Adriatic coast. During his graphical studies (1894–1897), Crnčić was awarded the 1896 Fuger gold medal for best work, and a special prize from the academy in 1897. At this time Crnčić exhibited in Zagreb and other European cities (Budapest
, St. Petersburg, and Paris
) with other artists of the Croatian Art Society (Društvo hrvatskih umjetnika). He also exhibited regularly at the international exhibition in Opatija
, selling many of his paintings.
In 1900, Crnčić moved to Zagreb. At his first solo exhibition in 1900-1901 in the Art Pavilion, he showed 39 oil paintings and prints, including several seascapes which remained a favourite theme throughout his life. His work raised interest in the art circles of Zagreb owing to his rich, bright colours and the high quality of his graphics.
Over the next few years, Crnčić spent time travelling around Croatia, drawing and painting from nature, and exhibiting his work in Zagreb, Opatija and Vienna. In the summer of 1902, he visited the Plitvice Lakes
, and at October's exhibition in Opatija, his painting "Blossoming Barberry" was particularly well-received. In December of that year, he held a solo exhibit in the E. Artina Salon in Vienna. Following that show, Crnčić received a grant from the Emperor of 2,000 kruna to create a series of etchings of the Adriatic coast in Primorje
and Dalmatia
. In the spring 1903 he spent time in Opatija, creating landscapes of Primorje and the Bay of Kvarner characterized by thick impasto
brush strokes. Some landscapes of the island of Lošinj were painted in using a pointillist technique. In the summer he was painting the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar.
By 1905, Crnčić was travelling to places around Europe in the company of other artists, studying and painting. In 1905 he visited Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. In 1907 he travelled down Italy to Naples, and in 1908 toured Bosnia and Herzegovina
In October 1906, together with fellow artist Bela Čikoš-Sesija, Crnčić opened the first private painting school in Zagreb, which in 1907 became an art college, and finally grew into the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb where he was a professor until his death.
At the beginning of 1910, Crnčić married the painter Una Virant. Their son Menci Clement was born in 1911, followed in 1915 by their daughter Branka. Between 1910-1915 he constructed a villa in Novi Vinodolski where he painted a number of famous works. He frequently invited his students and friends to visit him in the villa.
He held a solo exhibition at the Ulrich Salon in Zagreb in 1911. There he showed, among other paintings, a series of works representing scenes of the Velebit mountains. These introduced a change in his style of painting - instead of dense impasto he began to use thin layers of colour with fine brush movements.
Crnčić was among the first members of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1919 and was the Director of The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
from 1920-1928.
Menci Clement Crnčić died on 9 November 1930, aged 65. His death came suddenly after he returned one sunny autumn Sunday from a trip to the Sava river bank near Podsused. His last words were: "How beautiful the nature is, tomorrow I must come again to paint it."
and neutral colours that are characteristic of the Munich circle. These include the 1890 "Girl" (Djevojčica), and the 1891 "Old Man Shelling Corn" (Starac runi kukuruz) which has a strong sense of realism, painted in neutral shades with a distinctive white shirt, and yellow corn. Both paintings are in the Modern Gallery, Zagreb
.
While studying in Vienna, he occasionally exhibited in Zagreb, Opatija and abroad (Budapest
, St. Petersburg, Paris
). Crnčić was part of the Croatian Society of Artists in Zagreb (Društvo hrvatskih umjetnika), which was to grow into the Croatian modern art movement.
By his first solo exhibition in 1900-1901 in the Art Pavilion in Zagreb, his painting style had changed, with brighter colours appearing, and themes of landscapes and seascapes which were to remain a favourite subject throughout his life. He depicted it in a variety of different moods – in lively colors with foaming white waves, in somber fog, in the glow of the setting sun and under blue skies. An excellent landscape artist, he recorded characteristic scenes of the region, especially Istria, the Croatian coast and Dalmatia. Some of Crnčić's marine and coastal landscapes were unsurpassed at the time. His painting "Rain" is an excellent example of his mature style, with elements of realism combined with a free composition and a dynamic interplay of colours.
Crnčić's most important legacy is his graphical work. Trained in the European tradition, he achieved a high level of professionalism. His portrait work was realistic, solid and balanced. The same realism is present in his larger compositions, such as his coloured etchings of old Zagreb, which are freer in the drawing and painting, and evoke an impression accentuated by color.
Crnčić established himself as a marine artist with a series of paintings of the Istrian peninsula and the Adriatic coast. He was one of the founders of the first private painting school in Zagreb, which grew to become part of the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb. He taught there until the end of his life. He became a member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1919, and was the Director of The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters is a fine art museum in Zagreb, Croatia exhibiting the collection donated to the city by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer in 1884...
from 1920-1928.
Menci Clement Crnčić is among the founders of modern Croatian painting, contributing greatly to its development. He promoted landscape painting, mainly seascapes, using light, colour, and soft strokes in an impressionist style. He was the founder of modern Croatian graphic art, and played an important role in teaching several generations of Croatian painters.
Biography
Menci Clement Crnčić was born on 3 April 1865 in Bruck na Muri then in Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
(now Bruck an der Mur
Bruck an der Mur
Bruck an der Mur is a city of some 13,500 people located in the Austrian state of Styria. It is located at the confluence of the Mur and Mürz Rivers. Its manufactures include metal products and paper; Bruck is an important rail junction in the region located on the Graz to Vienna main...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
). His father, a border official, intended his son for the military, so after elementary school in Vienna, Menci attended a military grammar school. At seventeen he decided to leave military school and study painting. Following two years at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, 1882–1884, he stayed in Coburg
Coburg
Coburg is a town located on the Itz River in Bavaria, Germany. Its 2005 population was 42,015. Long one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined with Bavaria by popular vote in 1920...
for a year (1886–1887) painting sets for the theatre. Not having sufficient funds to continue his studies, he lived in Nova Gradiška
Nova Gradiška
Nova Gradiška is a city located in the Brod-Posavina County of Croatia, population 14,196 . It is located in the historic region of Slavonia, near the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina....
with his sister Marie, painting landscapes and portraits. Between 1889-1892 he continued his art education at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich was founded 1808 by Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria in Munich as the "Royal Academy of Fine Arts" and is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany...
under professor Nicolaus Gysis.
After graduating, Crnčić taught painting in the Arts and Crafts School in Zagreb, but in 1894 Iso Kršnjavi, the Director of the Institute for Education and Theology recognized Crnčić's talent for drawing. He arranged a scholarship for Crnčić to study etching
Etching
Etching is the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio in the metal...
and engraving
Engraving
Engraving is the practice of incising a design on to a hard, usually flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an intaglio printing plate, of copper or another metal, for printing...
in Vienna under the tuition of the graphic artist Wiliam Unger. For part of that time, due to Unger's illness, Crnčić stayed with the professor and his family in Lovran
Lovran
Lovran is a town in Istria, Croatia. It is situated on the western coast of the Kvarner Bay with a population of 3,241 . Its name derives from Laurel , as shown in the coat of arms....
on the Croatian coast. While there, he painted scenes of the Istria
Istria
Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...
n peninsula and along the Adriatic coast. During his graphical studies (1894–1897), Crnčić was awarded the 1896 Fuger gold medal for best work, and a special prize from the academy in 1897. At this time Crnčić exhibited in Zagreb and other European cities (Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, St. Petersburg, and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
) with other artists of the Croatian Art Society (Društvo hrvatskih umjetnika). He also exhibited regularly at the international exhibition in Opatija
Opatija
Opatija is a town in western Croatia, just southwest of Rijeka on the Adriatic coast. , the town proper had a population of 7,850, with the municipality having a total 12,719 inhabitants.-Geography:...
, selling many of his paintings.
In 1900, Crnčić moved to Zagreb. At his first solo exhibition in 1900-1901 in the Art Pavilion, he showed 39 oil paintings and prints, including several seascapes which remained a favourite theme throughout his life. His work raised interest in the art circles of Zagreb owing to his rich, bright colours and the high quality of his graphics.
Over the next few years, Crnčić spent time travelling around Croatia, drawing and painting from nature, and exhibiting his work in Zagreb, Opatija and Vienna. In the summer of 1902, he visited the Plitvice Lakes
Plitvice Lakes
Plitvice Lakes National Park is the oldest national park in Southeast Europe and the largest national park in Croatia. The national park was founded in 1949 and is situated in the mountainous karst area of central Croatia, at the border to Bosnia and Herzegovina...
, and at October's exhibition in Opatija, his painting "Blossoming Barberry" was particularly well-received. In December of that year, he held a solo exhibit in the E. Artina Salon in Vienna. Following that show, Crnčić received a grant from the Emperor of 2,000 kruna to create a series of etchings of the Adriatic coast in Primorje
Primorje-Gorski Kotar County
Primorje-Gorski kotar County is a county in western Croatia that includes the Bay of Kvarner and the surrounding Northern Croatian seacoast, and the mountainous region of Gorski kotar...
and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
. In the spring 1903 he spent time in Opatija, creating landscapes of Primorje and the Bay of Kvarner characterized by thick impasto
Impasto
In English, the borrowed Italian word impasto most commonly refers to a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface very thickly, usually thickly enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas...
brush strokes. Some landscapes of the island of Lošinj were painted in using a pointillist technique. In the summer he was painting the mountainous region of Gorski Kotar.
By 1905, Crnčić was travelling to places around Europe in the company of other artists, studying and painting. In 1905 he visited Italy, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and Austria. In 1907 he travelled down Italy to Naples, and in 1908 toured Bosnia and Herzegovina
In October 1906, together with fellow artist Bela Čikoš-Sesija, Crnčić opened the first private painting school in Zagreb, which in 1907 became an art college, and finally grew into the Academy of Fine Arts, Zagreb where he was a professor until his death.
At the beginning of 1910, Crnčić married the painter Una Virant. Their son Menci Clement was born in 1911, followed in 1915 by their daughter Branka. Between 1910-1915 he constructed a villa in Novi Vinodolski where he painted a number of famous works. He frequently invited his students and friends to visit him in the villa.
He held a solo exhibition at the Ulrich Salon in Zagreb in 1911. There he showed, among other paintings, a series of works representing scenes of the Velebit mountains. These introduced a change in his style of painting - instead of dense impasto he began to use thin layers of colour with fine brush movements.
Crnčić was among the first members of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1919 and was the Director of The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters
The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters is a fine art museum in Zagreb, Croatia exhibiting the collection donated to the city by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer in 1884...
from 1920-1928.
Menci Clement Crnčić died on 9 November 1930, aged 65. His death came suddenly after he returned one sunny autumn Sunday from a trip to the Sava river bank near Podsused. His last words were: "How beautiful the nature is, tomorrow I must come again to paint it."
Legacy
Crnčić's early work shows the realismRealism
Realism, Realist or Realistic are terms that describe any manifestation of philosophical realism, the belief that reality exists independently of observers, whether in philosophy itself or in the applied arts and sciences. In this broad sense it is frequently contrasted with Idealism.Realism in the...
and neutral colours that are characteristic of the Munich circle. These include the 1890 "Girl" (Djevojčica), and the 1891 "Old Man Shelling Corn" (Starac runi kukuruz) which has a strong sense of realism, painted in neutral shades with a distinctive white shirt, and yellow corn. Both paintings are in the Modern Gallery, Zagreb
Modern Gallery, Zagreb
Modern Gallery is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia that holds the most important and comprehensive collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings by 19th and 20th century Croatian artists. The collection numbers around 10,000 works of art, housed since 1934 in the historic Vranyczany Palace in the...
.
While studying in Vienna, he occasionally exhibited in Zagreb, Opatija and abroad (Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
, St. Petersburg, Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
). Crnčić was part of the Croatian Society of Artists in Zagreb (Društvo hrvatskih umjetnika), which was to grow into the Croatian modern art movement.
By his first solo exhibition in 1900-1901 in the Art Pavilion in Zagreb, his painting style had changed, with brighter colours appearing, and themes of landscapes and seascapes which were to remain a favourite subject throughout his life. He depicted it in a variety of different moods – in lively colors with foaming white waves, in somber fog, in the glow of the setting sun and under blue skies. An excellent landscape artist, he recorded characteristic scenes of the region, especially Istria, the Croatian coast and Dalmatia. Some of Crnčić's marine and coastal landscapes were unsurpassed at the time. His painting "Rain" is an excellent example of his mature style, with elements of realism combined with a free composition and a dynamic interplay of colours.
Crnčić's most important legacy is his graphical work. Trained in the European tradition, he achieved a high level of professionalism. His portrait work was realistic, solid and balanced. The same realism is present in his larger compositions, such as his coloured etchings of old Zagreb, which are freer in the drawing and painting, and evoke an impression accentuated by color.
Works
- Old Man Shelling Corn (Starac runi kukuruz)
- Portrait of a Girl (Portret djevojčice)
- Blossoming Barberry
- Calm (Bonaca)
- Marina
- More (Sea)
- Plase
- Rain
- Sunday in Lovran (Nedjela u Lovranu)
- Senj
Solo
- 1991 Menci Clement Crnčić Retrospective Exhibition - Art Pavilion Zagreb, (Umjetnički paviljon)
- 1911-1930 Ulrich salon, Zagreb
- 1902 E. Artina salon in Vienna
- 1900/1901 Art Pavilion, Zagreb
Group
- 2009-2010 From The Holdings Of The Museum Of Modern Art Dubrovnik Works From The End Of The 19th to the Beginning of the 21st Century December 18, 2009 – end of February 2010
- 2009 Zagreb - Munich - Croatian painting and Academy of Fine Arts in Munich - Umjetnicki paviljon / Art Pavilion Zagreb, Zagreb
- 1926 Yugoslav graphic artists in Zurich and St. Gallen
- 1906 Exhibition of The Association of Yugoslav Artists "Lada" in Sofia, Bulgaria
- 1903 Croatian Artists exhibits in Zagreb and Prague
- 1902 International Exhibition in Opatija
- 1894-97 Group exhibitions of the Croatian Art Society (Društva hrvatskih umjetnika) in Zagreb, Budapest, St. Petersburg, Paris. Group exhibits in Opatija
Public Collections
- Modern Gallery, ZagrebModern Gallery, ZagrebModern Gallery is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia that holds the most important and comprehensive collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings by 19th and 20th century Croatian artists. The collection numbers around 10,000 works of art, housed since 1934 in the historic Vranyczany Palace in the...
- Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik
- Zagreb University Library Print Collection
- Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Print Collection
- Croatian History Museum Print Collection
- AlbertinaAlbertinaThe Albertina is a museum in Vienna, Austria, containing the world's best collection of old master prints and drawings.Albertina, a feminine adjectival form of Albert , may also refer to:...
collection in Vienna