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У статті розглядаються різноманітні аспекти життя і творчості великого хорватського скульптора Івана Мештровича. Також наводяться свідчення впливу його творчості на су-
часну українську скульптуру.
The work of Ivan Meštrović is sufficiently explored in the
world. We summarize the problems of the national identity of the master,
his place in the culture of the twentieth century, problems of ideological
neutrality of his art and more. However, the problem of perception of
the creative achievements of the great Croatian sculptor of the twentieth
century by Ukrainian artists will be set for first time. We also turn to other
aspects and the presence of his works in the Ukrainian cultural context (his
exhibitions in Ukraine, usage of his provisions in theoretical developments).
Scientific exploration of Ivan Meštrović’s art can be put in line with the plans
of teaching in educational institutions of artistic profile and can be used in
the course of the twentieth century fine art. The creative legacy of the famous Croatian sculptor Ivan Meštrović
(1883–1962) is certainly one of the brightest pages in the world’s art of the
twentieth century. And one of the most controversial at the same time. His
life wasn’t idyllic. After several attempts of immigration (at the beginning of
World War I, after World War II; received US citizenship eight years before
his death), he did not lose connection with native land, finding unconditional
acceptance and credibility abroad (proof of this is a monument to American
Aboriginal people in Chicago park). In addition, early recognition of
Meštrović was unprecedented: at the age of 28, he received a gold medal at
the International Exhibition in Rome, which already gave a reason to call him
«... a former shepherd with Mikelangelo’s temperament and fruitfulness
of Rubens», and three years after his personal exhibition at the Venice
Biennale (29 artworks represented) competes with shows of much more
venerable Medard Rosso and Antoine Bourdelle.
It should be added that early successes was the only starting point of
his creative way and gave him further creative freedom. Having avoided the
temptations of radical avant-garde (though the early period of his work is
influenced by Symbolism and Art Nouveau) – he had chosen the realistic
direction. Ivan Meštrović, recognized as the largest Croatian artist of the twentieth
century, has devoted his first artwork to another Balkan ethnic group
(«Bosnian man on the horseback»). His first resonant cycle corresponds
to the national history of Serbian people - the Battle of Kosovo – , which
featured legendary figures of Prince Marko and Miłosz Obilich. But the hero
of one of its major monuments localized in the center of Split, Meštrović had
made the founder of the national Croatian literature – Marko Marulić.
The student of Auguste Rodin, Meštrović was able to realize a new vision
of space, based on active interaction of sculptural object and environment, which consequently perceived as an arena of contracting. His archetypes
of Mother and child, Martyr, Rebel, Hero etc have no direct precedent in the
prior art, and their originality prevents outright exploitation by followers.
The active study of the sculptural surface reveals lessons of Rodin’s
impressionism, which he complemented perfectly adding the classical
basis. Meštrović, according to J. Tuhenholda, provides «... a return to the
original sources of Hallas over Rome and Renaissance «. «His modeling
creates a surface, on which light gets stuck ... It seems that there is no
force that can carry out the invasion in this space ... « – sums Russian art
historian Sapieha I. Ivan Meštrović also made the revision of contemporary sacred sphere.
In the chapel of his own estate in Split he performed Adam and Eve as a
caryatids, used national type of face which unites him with artists of the
Middle Ages. There is a theory that he took his attention to the religious
subjects after realizing the terrible consequences of the First World
War as a compensatory option of frustration dominated at that time.The
author emphasise on overcoming of the pessimistic attitude, the dominant
culture in the twentieth century. Thus the title of his memoirs «Despite of
everything, I hope» sounds symbolically. The author pays attention not only
to the canonical story, but also to almost heretical persons. Actually his
sculptural work had began with crucifix performed in age of 14. We should note Ivan Meštrović’s attitude to the sculptural material
(which is repeatedly emphasized by Ukrainian artists and as we discuss
below). Despite the general statement of indifference Meštrović on this
issue («... my works are made of wood and stone, and their content is made
not of wood and stone, they are out of space and time»), a detailed study of
his artworks suggests a conceptual differentiation on each creative options,
and fault-finding in the selection is the variety of material (walnut for reliefs,
marble from Bach island for some women sculptures, etc.). Thus, revival
of authors hand in the late 1920s Croatian researcher Zhylko Groom
associates with the material factor «... again the excitement breaks the
bronze in the women convulsions», which precedes the temporary neglect
of wood. It is no accident that he was interested and marble «... in part to its
ability to pass through itself light beams» and bronze, which «... perfectly
features highlights of elastic modeling,» says Tupitsyn I.. Even purely
technical acquisitions of Meštrović are unprecedented in their own, such as
«Pieta», made of 5.5 tons block of Karrara marble, which is a record since
the days of Michelangelo. In general, in his work, he rose from the stage of
natural development material (in his younger years immediately cut stones
without any «applying points») to philosophic-weighted thinking process in
the form of structural triad program in which prominent place belonged to
logical, not passive-technical aspects. Direct acquaintance with the works of Ivan Meštrović by Ukrainian artists
had started quite late (none of his works wasn’t represented in museum
collections of Soviet Union). From 17 to 26 September 1980 some of his
sculptural works including famous «Kosovo cycle», along with the works of
two of his colleagues (56 works), was shown in the Central exhibition hall in
Kyiv within the Days of Croatian culture in the USSR as visual confirmation
of «multifaceted cultural relations of the socialist countries». Personal
exhibition which comprised examples of his graphic works (64 sculptures
and 22 drawings) was held in 1989 at the State Russian Museum in
Leningrad and was accompanied by a carefully issued catalogue, the works
were taken from the five museums and galleries of Yugoslavia. Ukrainian
artists were able to visit both exhibitions. According to the memoirs of Ukrainian sculptor Oleksii Chubarev
(teacher of Children’s art school named by T. Shevchenko), Honoured Artist
of Ukraine, Rector of Kyiv State Art Institute (1985–88) Valentyn Borysenko
repeatedly advised his student: «If you want to learn how to summarize form
in sculpture, you should study Meštrović‘s artworks». Yuri Kiselev (National
Artist of Ukraine, assistant professor of sculpture of National Akademy of
Fine Arts and Architecture), calling Meštrović «one of the pillars of the world
sculpture» said about his «one hundred percent awareness». «The form of
his reliefs perfectly corresponds with the materials he uses, fully opens the
power of material,» – says Ukrainian sculptor, Alex Redko.
Experience the great Croatian master had entered the pages of the new
Ukrainian textbooks - in one of which on the example of his «Pieta» (1946)
shows solution of the problem of the original composite design, in which
Christ’s head rests in «pyramidal niche of sorrow» and truncated pyramid
is «corporeal basis of human sinfulness». In conclusion we can say that the life and career of the great Croatian
sculptor of the twentieth century for Ukrainian artists is one of the signs that
«brings together artists of different generations (and continents, including
the phenomenon of domestic diaspora); standard of artistic rigor and a
clear example of harmonious sculptural creativity in solving problems of
harmony. Our research does not exhaust the basiсal creative issues of Ivan
Meštrović, only slighly touching some of them. Further study of his works
belongs to future researchers who will focus on the analysis of individual
works or Meštrović or his creative periods. It is important to emphasize that
by now there is no authoritative monograph in Ukrainian entirely dedicated
to the great Croatian sculptor of the twentieth century. So in research in this
direction seems urgent. |
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