Robert Frangeš Mihanović

Robert Frangeš Mihanović (October 2, 1872 - January 12, 1940) was a Croatian sculptor. He was a pioneer of modern Croatian sculpture. He was also one of the initiators and organizers of the artistic life in Zagreb at the turn of the centuries.

Life

He was born in Sremska Mitrovica. He graduated from the School of Crafts in Zagreb in 1889. Then he went to Vienna, where he studied at the Arts and Crafts School (1889-94) and the Art Academy (1894/95). He continued his studies in Paris (1900/01), where he met Auguste Rodin and M. Ross.

Frangeš Mihanović taught at the School of Crafts in Zagreb (1895-1907). He also taught sculpture at the Art Academy. He was one of the initiators and organizers of the artistic life in Zagreb at the turn of the centuries, as one of the founders of the Croatian Artists' Society (1897), the folklore society of "Lado" (1904), and the Art Academy (1907). He founded the bronze foundry at the Academy and brought the first founders. He was a member of several academies: JAZU, SANU and the Prague academy. He died in Zagreb. Along with Rudolf Valdec, Frangeš Mihanović was a pioneer of modern Croatian sculpture.

Works

His medals and certificates with figurative and animal themes - "Heracles the Bull" (1899),"Vineyard Workers" (1900), "Turkey" (1904), "Laborer" (1906) - are the starting point of Croatian medal making. He created statuettes, such as "Timidity" (1902), "Flight to Egypt" (1906), "The Rape of Europa" (1907); portraits, such as "V. Lisinski" (1895); busts, such as "Antun Mihanović" (1908) in Klanjec and "Antun and Stjepan Radić" (1936) in Trebarjevo Desno.

In 1897, he made "The Dying Soldier", a monument to the fallen soldiers of Šokčević's 78th Regiment in Osijek. Along with his "Philosophy" (1897) in Zagreb, "The Dying Soldier" is the earliest example of impressionism in Croatian sculpture. His most monumental work is the equestrian sculpture "King Tomislav" (made in 1928-38, installed in 1947 in Zagreb). He also made graveyard statues in Varaždin ("Monument to Death" on the Leitner family tomb, 1906) and Mirogoj ("Worker" on the Muller family tomb, 1935). He made architectural sculptural elements on buildings in Zagreb, such as the allegorical reliefs of Philosophy, Theology, Medicine and Frustration on the State Archive.

His opus spans the styles of academism, symbolism and modernism (impressionism). In his mature phase, he developed a personal style of free realism. He also engaged in artistic crafts.