Oskar Herman

Oskar Herman
Born	March 17, 1886(1886-03-17) Zagreb
Died	January 18, 1974(1974-01-18) (aged 87) Zagreb
Nationality	Croatian
Field	painting
Training	Zagreb, Munich
Movement	colourist expressionism, modern
Works	paintings in oils and watercolour, drawings
Influenced by	Anton Ažbe, Julius Meier-Graefe, Giorgione, Tintoretto, Palma Vecchio, Hans von Marées

Oskar Herman (1886–1974) was a Croatian Jewish painter. He was one of the group of Croatian artists known as the Munich Circle, who had a strong influence on modern art in Croatia.^[1]

Biography

Herman was born on March 17, 1886 in Zagreb to Croatian Jewish family.^[1][2] He initially attended business school in Zagreb,^[3] although his interest was in drawing and painting. He studied art at the painting school of K. Filipa^[3] in Zagreb. Then he moved to Munich where in 1904, like his compatriot Josip Račić, he attended the school of the Slovene painter and teacher Anton Ažbe.^[3] In 1905 he enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he studied until 1910 under teachers such as Hugo von Habermann.^[3] At that time Munich was a center of European art scene for Realism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism and Jugendstil.

Herman continued to live in Munich until 1933, with short stays in Zagreb, Berlin and Paris.^[1] At that point, due to the escalation of Nazism, he returned to Zagreb.^[4] During his stay in Munich he regularly displayed his work, with some success, at solo shows as well as participating in exhibitions of Munich Secession Art.

In the war years, Herman joined partisan forces and was captured and confined the refugee camp (1942–44) of Ferramonti-Tarsia, in Calabria, southern Italy.^[3][4] After his release he joined the artists colony of Cozzano.^[4]

In 1944 Herman returned to Croatia and the partisans. In 1945 he started work as a curator at the Modern Gallery in Zagreb, a position he held until his retirement in 1954.^[5] That year he prepared a retrospective exhibition at the Museum of Arts and Crafts,^[6] and in 1971 a major retrospective at the Art Pavilion. Herman was a reclusive artist, so his work was late in being accepted and understood.^[1]

Herman died 18 January 1974 in Zagreb.

Legacy

As a member of the famous Munich Circle, Herman's early work had a strong influence on Croatian contemporary art from the first half of the twentieth century.^[4] As the longest lived member of the group, Oskar Herman had the most time to develop as an artist, yet he remains the least well-known and accepted within Croatia. Recent acclaimed retrospective exhibitions have shown previously unknown Herman drawings, most of them from the Munich period (1906–1933) and have led to a better appreciation of his work.^[7] While in Munich, Herman encountered the ideas of prominent art historian Julius Meier-Graefe and his aesthetics of "pure visibility". He found inspiration in the work of such artists as Giorgione, Tintoretto, Palma Vecchio, and Hans von Marées.^[7]

Herman was solitary artist who pursued his own vision, largely unaffected by contemporary trends in modern art.^[8] By the 1920s he was known for being somewhat of a recluse. His use of symbolism developed before the expressionism movement became widespread. His paintings show ever stronger expressiveness, with his main motive to depict man and his inner world.^[4] Herman's early watercolours show strong, brilliant colours out of which his own particular expressionist colourism developed. From 1925, his work also reflected an increasing vision of future persecution and terror.^[7]

Herman's painting Dva stabla pod brijegom (Two Trees at the Foot of a Hill) was featured on a stamp in the series Croatian Modern Paintings issued 2008^[4]

Works

• Dva stabla pod brijegom (Two Trees at the Foot of a Hill) 1973

Exhibitions

Solo shows

• 1963 Oskar Herman - Galerija Umjetnina Split, Split^[9]
• 1994 Oskar Herman - Gallery of Fine Arts / Galerija likovnih umjetnosti, Osijek, Osijek^[9]
• 2006 Oskar Herman - Paintings and drawings 1906-1974 - Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik^[9]
• 2007 Oskar Herman: Drawings - Glyptotheque - Sculpture Museum, Zagreb^[9]
• 2010 Exhibition of Oskar Herman paintings opens in Zagreb June 23 - Dec 3 WHERE??? Exhibition includes 340 pieces from his earliest work made in Munich to his last painting in 1974.^[2]

Group shows

• 1973 Paintings of the Munich Circle - Umjetnicki paviljon / Art Pavilion Zagreb, Zagreb^[9]
• 2006 Croatian Collection - Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, Skopje^[9]
• 2007 Iz fundusa galerije - Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik^[9]
• 2008 From the holdings of the museum - Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik^[9]
• 2009-10 Zagreb - Munich: Croatian painters and the Academy of Art in Munich - Art Pavilion in Zagreb^[10]

Public collections

• Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Croatia^[11]
• Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, Croatia^[9]
• Rovinj Heritage Museum , Rovinj, Croatia^[9]
• Art Gallery Split, Croatia^[12]
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia^[13]
• Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, Skopje, Macedonia (F.Y.R.M.)^[9]

Online Galleries

Some of Oskar Herman's work can be seen on the Remek-djela website ^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} B.Kelemen; G.Gamulin (1978) (in Croatian), Monografija Oskar Herman, Zagreb: GZ 
2. ^ ^{a b} HINA (23 June 2010). "Exhibition of Oskar Herman paintings opens in Zagreb". Culture Net. http://www.culturenet.hr/default.aspx?id=21725. Retrieved 23 June 2010. "The exhibition of the work of the Zagreb painter from a prominent Jewish family includes 340 pieces from all stages of Herman's life - from his earliest work made in Munich to his last painting made in 1974. Oskar Herman belongs to the so-called Munich circle of Croatian paintings. The event was opened by the president of the Jewish Municipality Zagreb, Ognjen Kraus." 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e} (in Croatian) Herman, Oskar. Hrvatski Leksikon. I. Zagreb: Naklada Leksikon d.o.o.. 1996. p. 440. ISBN 953-96728-0-5 / 953-96728-1-3 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "Croatian Modern Painting - Oskar Herman". Hrvatska Posta. 2008. http://www.posta.hr/main.aspx?id=193&idmarke=1727. Retrieved 23 June 2010. 
5. ^ "Modern Gallery". Zagreb: Modern Gallery, Zagreb. http://www.moderna-galerija.hr/. Retrieved 22June 2010. 
6. ^ "Muzej za umjetnost i obrt [Museum of Art and Crafts]" (in Croatian). Zagreb, Croatia. http://www.muo.hr/. Retrieved 22 June 2010 
7. ^ ^{a b c} Marina Tenžera (October 2007). "Oskar Herman – crteži u Gliptoteci HAZU [Oskar Herman drawings in the Gliptoteka of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (HAZU)]" (in Croatian). Vjesnik Online. http://www.vjesnik.com/html/2007/10/13/Clanak.asp?r=kul&c=4. Retrieved 26 June 2010. 
8. ^ ^{a b} "On-line izložba: Oskar Herman [Online Exhibit: Oskar Herman]" (in Croatian). http://www.remek-djela.com/aktivnosti/izlozba-herman/herman.htm. Retrieved 26 June 2010. 
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} "Artist Profile: Oskar Herman". Artifacts.net. http://www.artfacts.net/en/artist/oskar-herman-25361/profile.html. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
10. ^ "ZAGREB - MÜNCHEN: Hrvatsko slikarstvo i Akademija likovnih umjetnosti u Münchenu [Zagreb = Munich: Croatian painters and the Academy of Art in Munich]" (in Croatian). Art Pavilion Zagreb. http://www.umjetnicki-paviljon.hr/hr/izlozbe/prosle_izlozbe/?exhibitionId=53. Retrieved 26 June 2010. 
11. ^ "Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik". Dubrovnik: Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik. April 2009. http://www.ugdubrovnik.hr/e/izlozbe-2009.htm#racic. Retrieved 18 June 2010. 
12. ^ "Galerija Umjetnina Split [Art Gallery Split]" (in Croatian). http://www.galum.hr/. Retrieved 22 June 2010. 
13. ^ "Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb". http://www.mdc.hr/msu/en/zbirke/fs-2-2-1zbirka.html. Retrieved 18 June 2010. 

Persondata
Name	Herman, Oskar
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	17 March 1886
Place of birth	Zagreb
Date of death	18 January 1974
Place of death	Zagreb