Miroslav Kraljević was a Croatian painter born in 1885 in an aristocratic family in Gospić, a small mountainous town which is today a part of Croatia but back then was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Kraljević was very attached to his family, to his tradition and to his roots, even to the point of sentimentality. I am emphasising this sentimentality not merely to illustrate his character but because it will have a crucial role later on in his art and the inspiration he took from the past. Kraljević attended grammar school in Zagreb and had many hobbies during his teenage years, such as tennis and singing in a choir. Painting was just one of his many pursuits and in those early years he mostly painted portraits of his family members, usually as a gift or as a token of gratitude.
Fig.1 Female Nude on a Chair, 1911, oil on canvas
Fig.2 Olympia, 1912, oil on canvas
Famous Printmaker
It was only in 1906 while he was studying law in Vienna that he decided to seriously devote himself to art. Doing law could provide comfort and security, but art was calling out to him. The same year he moved to Munich and started attending graphic school of the famous printmaker Moritz Heymann. In 1907 he started attending the Academy of Fine Arts and became the student of Hugo von Habermann. In those times Munich was an important art centre, especially in the context of the Art Nouveau or Jugendstil as it was known in German. Still, even Munich eventually became too small for the fiery and energetic man that Kraljević was. In 1911 he received a state grant to study in Paris.
Fig.3 Ripe Fruit, 1912, oil on canvas
Fig.4 Young Girl in Blue Stockings, 1912, oil on canvas
Main Influences
He spent only a year in Paris; from September 1911 to November 1912, but it proved to be crucial for his art. His art went through a complete transformation and his output was extremely prolific, though it consisted more of sketches, ink drawings and watercolours and less of the standard oil on canvas paintings. He was pulled into the whirlwind of the frenzy and excitement of the Parisian art scene and was eager to see, experience and draw as much as possible in such a short time. There is a clear distinction between the artworks that he was creating while in Croatia and Munich and those he made during his stay in Paris. In Croatia he painted a lot of portraits of his family members, as mentioned already, and also a lot of paintings of animals such as horses, many landscapes and still lives. There were even some sacral artworks, mostly explorations of the theme of the Virgin Mary. The main influences behind those artworks were the paintings of Cezanne, Manet and in general of the Spanish Baroque, but this all changed in Paris.
Fig.5 Leda, 1912, oil on canvas
Fig.6 Après, 1912, pastel on paper
Enforced Ecstasy
Kraljević painted many landscapes and portraits while in Paris, but if there was one element of his art that flourished, it was eroticism. We can trace various influences in the erotic artworks that Kraljević created during his years in Paris. In my view, first there are the ‘classic’ oil on canvas portraits of nude or half-nude women painted in an academic manner and a good example is the painting ‘Young Girl in Blue Stockings’ (fig.4). Then there is the painting ‘Olympia’, a clear homage to Manet’s infamous 1863 painting ‘Olympia’.
Fig.7 Rest, 1912, pastel on paper
In the extended Premium edition of the article more about the traces of Expressionism in Kraljević’s nudes, the influences of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Aubrey Beardsley on the artist, Kraljević’s exploration on the theme of lesbianism, his nude self-portraits including accompanying images.
Click HERE for the lesbian expressionism in the paintings of Cameron Cox
What do you think about Kraljević’s sensual expressionism? Leave your reaction in the comment box below..!!
