The magnificent works from the splendid Bukovac’s collection, such as Croatian Revival, Gundulić’s Dream, or Dubravka, leave no one indifferent. On the contrary, the interplay of characters and richness of colors awaken something more than just a visual experience within us. The refinement of the figures, the dynamism of the composition, the richness of details, the clarity of the faces, the positioning of the hands, all of that manages to bring to the canvas the work of one of our greatest painters of the late 19th century – Vlaho Bukovac.
His life and career were intertwined with life’s trials and overcoming them, but that was the price of success, the price of artistic immortality. He showed by his example that a person can fight for their own identity and find their place in the sun without the help of privileges or inherited social status.
Childhood and Youth
He was born in Cavtat in 1855 as the second child in a modest, but love-filled artisan family Faggioni. From his earliest childhood, he remembers the colorful motifs that unfolded before his eyes as he watched…
He inherited his mother’s skill of weaving traditional costumes from Konavle, and later, while abroad, he was often accompanied by the sound of Dubrovnik bells, like “muffled voices of a distant homeland.”
The artistic talent that permeated his spirit manifested itself very early and strongly, and the need to express himself visually became a constant in his life. As a child, he showed enviable drawing talent, and instead of playing with his peers, he spent his time making drawings of his surroundings and iconographic saints.
Already then, he began to develop the ability to not finish the drawing immediately before the model, but to memorize it through the force of will, imprinting it in his mind down to the smallest details, so that he could complete it “from memory” in his studio. This later allowed him to create his works without the burden of prolonged modeling, and gave his imagination room to choose the most faithful impression. It is precisely this artistic quality that confirms him as one of the best portraitists of his time and a master of large figurative compositions, in which to this day no other Croatian painter has surpassed him. He groaned.
He had a normal childhood, filled with the safety of home and childish amusements. However, at the age of eleven, in 1866, he goes with his uncle to work in America, which will fundamentally change the destiny of the provincial boy. It was also the beginning of painful and difficult events that would force him to toughen up and mature early.
“The land of plenty” becomes a true nightmare for Vlaho, as his uncle dies soon after their arrival and instead of going to the promised college, his aunt sends him to a “free reform school for minors.” There, he spends his first Christmas in America, hungry, abandoned, and forgotten, far from his beloved home and loved ones. After hearing his life story, a caregiver from the reform school rescues him and brings him back to his aunt. This unpleasant “excursion” was coldly ignored in the house, and Vlaho had to take care of the child and do the hardest household chores for his aunt. Despite all this, he found time to sketch and draw.
The four-year stay in America enriched him with endurance and persistence, but not with money. He returns home poor. I looked at painting as a very enjoyable game, but it never crossed my mind to become an artist. I wanted to go out into the world, not be a burden to my parents. I decided to become a sailor, so that one day, God willing, I would become a captain…
He decided to set off into the world once again, but this time, misfortunes did not pass him by. They faithfully accompanied him when he set off as a cadet on the ship Eighth of Dubrovnik towards Constantinople and later worked on the railway in South America, where he got a job as a painter drawing and making numbers and letters on train carriages. Self-taught, he built his path tirelessly through drawing. He felt that painting was his calling in life, but he didn’t have the money for education.
After losing his job, he went to California with his modest savings and got a job at a café. Throughout that time, he didn’t allow the routine of everyday life to extinguish his passion for painting. He painted portraits on demand, and soon his talent was recognized, leading to his first public recognition in local newspapers. In alliance and American newspapers of San Francisco, he finally decided to turn to painting. He could finally dedicate himself to perfecting his talent without relying on rough physical work. People started to see him the way he saw himself – as a painter.
Although aware of his material success, he sensed that visual art was something else, something deeper and stronger. He made many portraits, but felt that his self-taught talent was not enough. It needed to be refined, given clear direction, enriched. He wanted to learn the secret of starting and finishing a painting, and he couldn’t do it alone. He wanted to learn from the masters.
I longed for a true master, to learn real art from him. All of this compelled me to choose Europe. What good is gold without true art! With my savings, I will go to Rome to perfect my painting. That’s where the real teachers are, and America is only a good school for merchants. I harnessed all my strength to finish all the work and then embarked on my golden journey. and so I set off on my way back home.
The journey brought him back to his homeland, to his birthplace: … I immediately showed my parents those gold coins. I told them that I could have become rich in America over time, but that for now, my purpose was not money, but science.
World fame
In his homeland, he sought help and advice from esteemed artists of his time. The respected Dubrovnik poet and scholar Medo Pucić strongly advocated for the talented young man, and at his persuasion, Vlaho decided not to continue his education in Rome. Alongside Bishop Strossmayer, he became Bukovac’s patron, taking on the costs of his education at the École des Beaux Arts in Paris.
However, admission to the school was uncertain due to its full capacity. Bukovac confidently faced this challenge of fate, proposing to Professor Cabanel that his admission be decided after seeing his work on the given theme. Thus, a small study of Bukovac’s left hand resting on the spine of a book proved crucial for his entry into the world of visual arts.
Bukovac His talent immediately came to the fore. He progressed incredibly fast, gaining a reputation as one of the best students. After less than a year, he decided to try his luck at the most important art exhibition of the time – the Paris Salon.
When I first saw the Salon in 1877, I felt insignificant compared to those masters. It pained me, but I didn’t give up. One day, God willing, I will be among them! – I told myself.
He exhibited his Montenegrin Woman for defense. From then on, the Salon became his most important battleground for measuring himself against the most prominent European masters. The comparison with the paintings at the Salon was precisely what drove Bukovac to constantly improve his own style.
He drew inspiration from ancient art, sketching Greek and Roman statues, seeking and observing the harmony of the human body, diverse proportions, and the magnificent law of lines. He would select harmonious proportions from various models and combine them into a whole, or create a composition from multiple figures. the composition. The antiquity thus becomes a model for his previously self-taught style.
As he perfected his skills, he did not bypass the progressive ideas of the impressionists that gradually conquered him. Little by little, he started drawing small, spontaneous pictures in his planner (landscapes). He engaged in experimentation, abandoning the precision of drawing and static figural compositions that had consumed him at the Academy, striving to convey the impression of experience and visual phenomena of color and light. This desire to capture fleeting movement and atmosphere will dominate especially towards the end of his career, during the creation of nudes.
The painting La grande Iza (The Great Isis) brings him worldwide fame and reputation as the “le clou du Salon” out of 2727 exhibits in 1881. Just two years later, he becomes famous in England with the painting The White Slave.
However, it is portraiture that allows him clear recognizability and popularity among the audience. He becomes sought after, providing him with a secure existence. In portrait drawing, he possessed refined He had an exceptional eye for detail. He drew incredibly fast and in one go. He knew how to subtly express the character of the subject, the folds of the fabric, the ornamentation of the drapes. He would usually first talk to the person he was going to portray in order to “capture” them better, and only then start painting. He would enrich the backgrounds with various oriental drapes, colorful carpets, smooth silk, shiny jewelry, ruffled frills, soft velvet…
What particularly gave his works their stamp and originality were the hands of the portrayed person. He painted them in the finest detail – old, with visible veins, sometimes adorned with expensive jewelry, or slender, white, young, crossed or gently touching the silk. The hands clearly reflected the person’s character, their social status, or physical health. The hands were a small portrait in themselves and his “painter’s signature” on all portraits. Because of this distinctive style, we can call him a portraitist of hands.
Towards the end of his studies, he becomes a well-established painter, a worthy student of Professor Cabanel’s school. What he had longed for in America, then a vague vision, has now come true for him. To be young and famous in Paris! Is there anything greater, more valuable in the world?! Blessed are all the sufferings that accompanied me until that moment!
During one of their last encounters, Professor Cabanel “dedicates” Bukovac with a warm handshake, confirming their equality – he has become a master painter. Feeling this, Bukovac couldn’t contain himself. He burst into tears.
In the height of his fame, he comes to Croatia. Carrying his own vision and inner driving force, he brings the ideas of the Impressionists and the spirit of classical Parisian art, igniting a spark in the lethargic artistic circles. He becomes the driving force behind all art exhibitions and manifestations.
Inspired by national themes and content, he creates his great allegorical figurative works here: Croatian Revival, Carnival in Epidaurus, Evolution of Croatian Culture. In the work Gundulić’s Dream, he synthesizes his entire oeuvre. It is not an art, it combines a wide range of knowledge, connecting the real and the abstract, depicting characters in an open space, elements of landscapes, breakfast on the grass, the character of Gundulić surrounded by female nudes… Gundulić’s dream represents a symbolic encapsulation of all his themes and motifs.
At the same time, he paints commissioned portraits that come from all corners of the world. In the gallery of characters, there is room for all social groups: he portrays the British billionaire Samson Fox, Emperor Franz Joseph I, Serbian Queen Natalija, the Obrenović family, Strossmayer, a young patrician, a maid… He is presented with a unique opportunity to enrich himself by drawing portraits in England. However, realizing that this would jeopardize his artistic freedom, he rejects this tempting offer, always keeping in mind: Either way, the main condition for an artist that holds no charm or satisfaction is: freedom! The freedom to work and the freedom to dispose of oneself.
a harmoničnu cjelinu. Njegovo slikarstvo postaje sve izražajnije i intimnije, s dubokim emocionalnim trenucima i slojevitim simbolizmom. Bukovac je prihvaćen kao jedan od najvažnijih slikara svog vremena, čija se umjetnost ističe i odražava duhovne i socijalne teme tog doba.
He was a renowned painter. His early works were mostly landscapes, but in his later works, he increasingly focused on themes from the family circle.
Although he worked tirelessly, he felt a nostalgia for his homeland: I long for the sun and our sea, as well as for the local food, our lovely words, and our people, who, despite their flaws, are closest to our heart and nature.
The famous painter died in Prague in 1922. His passion for painting never left him, and he continued to paint with the same fervor until the end of his life. Painting was and remained my greatest pleasure; as soon as I am occupied with painting, I forget about everything else and believe that there is no one in the world today who could be happier than me.