Kristian Kreković

Kristian Kreković (1901 - 1985), was an Croatian painter of portraits and ethnographic art. In later life he became known for his fascination with Incan art, and he spent a number of years living in Perucite web
first =Darko
last =Zubrinic
title =Croatian Art (1995)
publisher =croatianhistory.net
url =http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/art.html#krek
accessdate = 2007-12-08 ] . From 1960 he resided in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, where he died in 1985cite web
title =Museum Kreković - Biography of Kristian Kreković
publisher =conselldemallorca.net
url =http://www.conselldemallorca.net/webs/museukrekovic/index.php?lang=en
accessdate = 2007-12-08 ] . Mallorca has a museum named for him and devoted predominantly to his art.

Career

Kreković is believed to have been born in the village of Koprivna near Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, then a part of Austria-Hungary, to a family originally from the region of Lika (modern-day Croatia).

At the end of WWI Kreković went to Vienna to study, although he eventually completed his studies in Paris. His first public exhibition was in 1925 in the Lounge des Artistes Français. In 1928 he was made a member of the French Society of Visual Arts and awarded the gold medal in the Bordeaux exhibition of international art.

In 1930 Kreković he began travelling with his wife Sina to Peru, where he was to reside for a period of 35 years. During this time Kreković studied many aspects of the Incan civilisation, and often travelled in the Andes looking for indigenous subjects to paint. He travelled back to Europe on several occasions during this period, and at various stages was commissioned to paint portraits of the Queen Consort, Queen Elizabeth and a number of other members of European royal houses. In 1931 Kreković became friends with and painted a portrait of Mahatma Gandhi, who is quoted as saying "The sentiment of Kristian Kreković towards the world is unique. It impregnates all his art, and it impregnates it with extraordinary creativity and constructive character."cite web
first =Darko
last =Zubrinic
title =Croatian Art (1995)
work = citing Gaspar Sabater: Kristian Krekovic, el artista y su obra, Consell de Mallorca, Departement de Cultura, Museu Krekovic, 1990. The original quote is in Spanish: "El sentimient de Kristian Kreković hacia el mundo es único. Impregna todo su arte e impregna con extraordinario creatividad y constructivo carácter."
publisher =croatianhistory.net
url =http://www.croatianhistory.net/etf/art.html#krek
accessdate = 2007-12-08 ]

He spent World War II in the Croatian capital of Zagreb Post-war he was tried by the communist Yugoslavian government along with Lovro von Matačić and Tin Ujević for his painting of Croatian leader Ante Pavelić.

In 1955 the Peruvian Government sponsored an exhibit of Kreković's Incan-inspired ethnographic art throughout the United States. On this tour Kreković insisted on being characterised as a "Croatian-born Peruvian artist" which resulted in protests from the embassy of Yugoslavia.

In 1966 the Peruvian city of Cuzco (or Cusco) granted him honorary citizenship and the Gold medal of the city.

In 1965 he settled in Palma de Mallorca, where in 1977 he built the Museum of Palma de Mallorca with his works of art, now known as Museu Kreković (Collección Pintor Kreković). The Kreković Museum was officially opened in 1981 by Queen Sophia of Spain. Kreković died in his home in Mallorca in 1985.

Body of work

In addition to his extensive portrayal of Peruvian and Incan subjects, Kreković painted portraits of many ministers, statesmen, and outstanding persons, including:
- Mahatma Gandhi (1931)
- the English Queen (in 1938, the portrait is kept in Buckingham palace),
- the royal family of Spain (King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia)
- the royal family of Sweden (in 1948)
- Queen Marie of Romania

Examples of his work can be found in the Philadelphia Museum, the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts, and the Museum of the American Indians in New York.

References

External links

* [http://www.hr/darko/etf/kreks.html Kreković: a gallery of paintings, in Spanish and Croatian]