Rihard Jakopič

Rihard Jakopič (April 12 1869–April 21 1943) was a Slovene painter. He was the leading Slovene Impressionist painter and theoretician. Together with Matej Sternen, Matija Jama and Ivan Grohar, he is considered the pioneer of Slovene impressionist painting.

Life

Jakopič was born in Ljubljana, then part of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, in 1869. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, the Azbe Art School in Munich, and with the Czech painter Vojtěch Hynais at the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague. In Ljubljana, he established the "Slovene School of Impressionist Drawing and Painting", the predecessor of the Academy of Fine Arts at the University of Ljubljana. He also built a pavilion in the Tivoli Park in Ljubljana, based on plans by the architect Max Fabiani. The pavilion, known as "The Jakopič Pavilion", became the central venue for art exhibitions in the Slovene Lands at the time. Over 1200 paintings and 650 drawings by Jakopič have been preserved. He was one of the early members of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts founded in 1938 and an iniciator for the foundation of the National Gallery of Slovenia. He died in Ljubljana on.

In 1962, due to the relocation of the railway line, the Jakopič Pavilion was demolished. In 1968 a statue of Jakopič by Janez Boljka was erected on the original site of the pavilion and a new Jakopič Gallery opened on Slovenska Street in Ljubljana. Since 1969, the Jakopič Award, the highest Slovenian award in fine arts, is presented annually. In 1965 a primary school in Šiška was named after him.

Jakopič was also portrayed on the old Slovene 100 tolar banknote with a detail from one of his paintings and the plans of his pavilion.

Works

*"Sončni breg (Sunny Hillside)" (1903), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Breze v jeseni (Birches in Autumn)" (1903), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Kamnitnik v snegu (Kamnitnik in the Snow)" (1903), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Sončni breg (Sunny Hillside)" (1903), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Zima (Winter)" (1904), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Pri svetilki (By the lamp)" (1904), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Študija sonca (A Study of the Sun)" (1905), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Križanke" (1909), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Spomini (Memories)" (1912), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Zeleni pajčolan (The Green Veil)" (1915), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Večer na Savi (Evening on the Sava River)" (1926), National Gallery, Ljubljana
*"Slepec (Blind man)" (1926), National Gallery, Ljubljana

ee also

*Culture of Slovenia

External links

* [http://www.thezaurus.com/webzine/slovene_impressionism_rihard_jakopic/ Institute for Slovenian Studies, Melbourne site with article about Jakopič and gallery of some of his paintings]
* [http://www.ng-slo.si/en/ National Gallery of Slovenia site]
* [http://www.bsi.si/en/description-banknotes-and-coins.asp?MapaId=531 Bank of Slovenia, description and image of 100 tolar banknote featuring Jakopič]

ources

* [http://www.un.int/slovenia/famous.html Information on Jakopič at the Permanent Representation of Slovenia to the UN site]