Biography
Biography
1883.
Ivan Meštrović was born on August 15 in Vrpolje (Slavonia). The parents return to their native Otavice, a small place in the Dalmatian hinterland, where Ivan spends his childhood.
1899.
Meštrović’s manuscript dates one of his first literary attempts – the poem Vilo moja, pivat mi pomaži, dedicated to Fr. Andrija Kačić Miošić.
1900.
He went to Split to the stonemason’s workshop of Pavle Bilinić, where the master’s wife Regina Bilinić born him. Vecchietti teaches drawing, while prof. Ante Bezić is taking an evening course for apprentices at Realca in Split. He went to Vienna, but due to non-compliance with formal requirements (lack of previous education) he failed to enroll in the academy there.
1901.
With prior preparation for the entrance exam with the sculptor Otto König, he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts (sculptural class of Edmund Hellmer, then sculptural class of Hans Bitterlich).
1902.
Meeting with August Rodin at the Academy (according to Meštrović’s memoirs: Quelques souvenirs sur Rodin, Annales de l’Institut Français de Zagreb, 1937).
1903.
For the first time he participated in the exhibition of the Association of Fine Artists of Austria – Secession, at their XVII. exhibition, and with the Mánes Association in Prague at their X. exhibition.
1904.
He graduated from the sculpture class at the Academy, after which he enrolled in the study of architecture. He meets Ruža Klein (first wife). With his friend Tomislav Krizman, he organizes an exhibition in the studio (Beatrix Gasse 14a). He exhibits for the first time with the Vienna Association of Artists Hagenbund (16th exhibition).
1905.
He participates in the jubilee exhibition of the Art Society in Zagreb, where the work Mother’s Care is purchased for the Austrian emperor. The sculptor’s first public sculpture, the bust of Luka Botić, was erected on November 5 on Botićeva poljana in Split (today’s Trg Republike).
1906.
He is a participant in the International Art Exhibition in London (Austrian Pavilion – Dalmatian Odio). He is organizing a solo exhibition in Split. He completed two years of architecture with Friedrich Ohmann. He is registered as a regular member of the Association of Fine Artists of Austria – Secession.
1907.
On April 29, he married Ruža Klein (1883-1942) in the church of Ivan Nepomuk in Vienna. For the first time he participates in VII. Venice Biennale.
1908.
With the material support of Karl Wittgenstein, he moved to Paris, where he rented a studio on Montparnasse in Impasse de Maine. He exhibits at the Salon d’Automne in Paris. He is working intensively on Kosovo fragments (Vidovdan Temple). He participates in the First Dalmatian Art Exhibition in the newly built building of the Croatian Home in Split (the exhibition was a kind of introduction to the founding of the Medulić Society).
1909.
He founded, together with Emanuel Vidović and other artists from Split, the Medulić Society in Split.
1910.
On XXXV. exhibitions of Secession exhibits a large number of his works. The works were transferred to Zagreb, where he exhibited the Cycle of Prince Marko in the Art Pavilion together with the painter Mirko Rački. In the same space, then, he will exhibit with the Medulić Society under Vojnović’s motto Non-Heroic Time in Defiance. The Well of Life, Meštrović ‘s work from 1905, was purchased for the public space of the city of Zagreb.
1911.
At the International Exhibition in Rome, he exhibits fragments of the Kosovo cycle, including the equestrian sculpture of Prince Marko, which was later destroyed. He won the first prize for sculpture.
1912.
The Well of Life was set up in front of the HNK building in Zagreb.
1913.
He resides and works in Rome and Belgrade. After a long time, he performed the first sculptures with a sacral theme.
1914.
He exhibits independently at XI. biennale in Venice. He is preparing a solo exhibition in Split, which was banned by a decision of the Austrian authorities. In Rome, he meets Rodin and portrays him twice.
1915.
Politically active in Paris and London. He is exhibiting independently at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
1916.
He resides in Paris and Geneva. The Great Crucifixion was built in Geneva, today located in the Church of the Holy Cross in Meštrović’s Crikvine-Kaštilec in Split.
1917.
He lives in Cannes and Paris. He makes wooden reliefs that will become part of the Christological cycle later set in Crikvine-Kaštilec.
1919.
He decides to settle in Zagreb. He exhibits at the Exhibition of Yugoslav Artists from Dalmatia in Split (Velika Realka). He continues to exhibit in the UK. He is one of the organizers and participants of the Exhibition of Yugoslav Artists at the Petit Palais in Paris during the peace conference. He was elected an honorary member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts in Zagreb. The first two monographs on the artist were published.
1920.
He began work on the votive tomb chapel of the Račić family (Our Lady of the Angels) in Cavtat, which he completed in 1922. This was the period when he met his second wife Olga Kesterčanek with whom he would have four children (March 1924 – 1949; Tvrtko 1925 – 1961; Marija 1927; Mate 1930).
1921.
In Zagreb, he started arranging a house and adding an atelier in Mletačka Street in the Upper Town. He began to systematically buy plots for the construction of a family villa in Meje in Split.
1922.
He became a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.
1923.
He was appointed rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.
1924.
He travels to the United States, where he begins a series of exhibitions in US cities with a solo exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum in New York.
1925.
On July 26, a monument to Marko Marulić (1924) was unveiled on Trg braće Radić in Split. He has exhibited independently in Buffalo, Detroit, Rochester, Chicago, St. Louis. Louis, Boston and Cleveland.
1926.
Monument to Josip Juraj Strossmayer Zagreb unveiled.
1927.
Monument to Gregory of Nin completed.
1928.
Monument to the Indians unveiled at the entrance to Grant Park in Chicago.
1929.
On September 29, the Monument to Gregory of Nin was unveiled at the Peristyle in Split.
1931.
Completed construction works on the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer near Otavice (family tomb).
1932.
He is exhibiting independently in the Art Pavilion in Zagreb. He designs sculptures and reliefs for the church of St. Marko in the Upper Town in Zagreb.
1933.
He exhibits independently in Paris (Jeu de paume des Tuileries) and Prague (Pavilion of Queen Anne “Belvedere” in Hradčany). He opened the Meštrović Gallery in Ilica 12 in Zagreb (operated until 1937).
1934.
He became a full member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts.
1938.
He is completing the construction of the House of Fine Arts in Zagreb and the conceptual design for the Church of Our Lady in the Diocese near Knin.
1939.
He completed a representative family palace in Meje (1931-1939) in Split (today the Meštrović Gallery – an exhibition space with a permanent exhibition of his works, which operates within the Ivan Meštrović Museum). The restoration of the Capogrosso castle from the 16th century (1939-1941) in Split, today Meštrović’s Crikvina-Kaštilac, begins. A monument to the Romanian region of Ferdinand I was unveiled in Bucharest.
1941.
Completed adaptation of the Crikvine-Kaštilac complex in Split with the Church of the Holy Cross, which is intended for the display of wooden reliefs. He welcomed the Italian occupation in Split, from where he went to Zagreb where he was interned by the Ustasha regime. On the sixth night, without prior hearing, he was to be liquidated. Italian authorities remove the Monument to Gregory of Nin from the Peristyle.
1942.
After his release from prison and house arrest, he went to Italy (Rome) and Switzerland (Lausanne, Genéve). Exhibits at XXIII. Venice Biennale.
1945.
His book Dennoch will ich hoffen… Ein Weihnachtsgespräch, Zürich (Still Hope or Christmas Conversations) was published. Several paintings on sacred wood are created.
1947.
At the invitation of the American Academy of Sciences and Arts, he exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum in New York as the first living artist to whom the museum organized an exhibition. He settled in Syracuse, New York, where he was appointed professor at the Art School at Syracuse Univeristy.
1950.
Exhibition of 25 reliefs dedicated to the Church of the Holy Cross, at Hendricks Chapel, Syracuse University.
1951.
On December 14, he was appointed an honorary member of the Academy of Arts in Vienna.
1952.
He donates to the Republic of Croatia a house and studio in Zagreb (Atelier Meštrović), a family villa in Split (Meštrović Gallery), the western part of Crikvin-Kaštilec in Split, a family tomb, the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer near Otavice and a large number of his works. The donation was today united in the Museums of Ivan Meštrović with its headquarters in Split.
1953.
At the end of the year, wooden reliefs were delivered to the Church of the Holy Cross (Crikvine-Kaštilac) in Split, where they were placed the following year.
1954.
He becomes a U.S. citizen. A monument to Gregory of Nin was erected in front of the Golden Gate of Diocletian’s Palace in Split.
1955.
He resides in South Bend, Indiana, USA and becomes a postgraduate professor at the Catholic University of Notre Dame.
1956.
A monument to Ruđer Bošković (1937) was unveiled in the park of the Ruđer Bošković Institute in Zagreb.
1959.
For the first time since he left her, comes for a brief visit to his homeland.
1960.
He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
1961.
His book Memories of Political People and Events was first published in Buenos Aires. On 29 March, the Republic of Austria awarded him a decoration for science and art.
1962.
He dies Jan. 16 in South Bend. He was buried on January 24 in the family tomb near Otavice.
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