Hinko Juhn (9 June 1891 – 5 September 1940) was a Yugoslav sculptor, best known for his ceramics. He studied at the Arts & Crafts College in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
and the International Academy in Florence, and took specialist classes in ceramics in the Czech Republic, Germany and at the Vienna School of Applied Arts. On his return to Zagreb, he exhibited his work at the Spring Salon and introduced ceramic techniques to a new generation of Yugoslav artists through his teaching.
Biography
Juhn was born on 9 June 1891 in
Podgorač
Podgorač is a municipality in Osijek-Baranja County, Croatia. There are 2,877 inhabitants in the municipality, 81% of whom are Croats and 16.20% Serbs
The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group ...
near
Našice
Našice () is a town in eastern Croatia, located on the northern slopes of the Krndija mountain in eastern Slavonia, 51 km southwest of regional hub Osijek. Administratively it belongs to Osijek-Baranja County.
Geography
Našice is located ...
to a
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
family.
[ Ha-Kol (Glasilo Židovske zajednice u Hrvatskoj); Nataša Maksimović Subašić; Hinko Juhn - umjetnik, kipar i keramičar; stranica 24, 25; broj 110, lipanj / srpanj / kolovoz 2010.] After two years at the high school in
Osijek
Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...
, at the age of 13 he enrolled in the State Craft School in Zagreb.
In 1907, he began studying sculpture at the College of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb under
Robert Frangeš-Mihanović
Robert Frangeš-Mihanović (2 October 1872 – 12 January 1940) was a Croatian sculptor. He is considered 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 t ...
and
Rudolf Valdec, graduating in 1911.
He continued his studies at the International Academy in Florence, where he also held his first solo exhibition in 1912.
Juhn was one of the founders in 1916 of the Zagreb Spring Salon,
where he continued to exhibit his works until 1928.
He started working in ceramics, and became interested in learning more. In 1918, therefore, he went to the Czech Republic, where he studied at a specialist ceramics school in
Bechyne, then at the State School of Crafts in ceramics and applied arts in Teplice Drevodan.
He spent some time in Dresden at the
Meissen porcelain
Meissen porcelain or Meissen china was the first European hard-paste porcelain. Early experiments were done in 1708 by Ehrenfried Walther von Tschirnhaus. After his death that October, Johann Friedrich Böttger continued von Tschirnhaus's work and ...
works,
then continued his ceramic studies at the Vienna School of Applied Art.
Returning to Zagreb in 1921, Juhn established a ceramics department at the College of Arts and Crafts. In 1924, he transferred to the State Craft School, where he was professor of ceramics for the rest of his career.
Death
Hinko Juhn died in Zagreb on 5 September 1940, aged 49, at the Srebrnjak Sanatorium.
Biodata on Hinko Juhn
hrcak.srce.hr. Accessed 9 April 2022.
Legacy
Although Juhn created sculptural works in many different kinds of media, he is best known for his ceramics. He was the first Croatian sculptor to specialize in that medium, and he is responsible for the popularity of the medium in Croatia between the two world wars.
Juhn was a master of miniature sculptures, mostly female nudes, in a variety of materials such as plaster, bronze and terracotta, as well as ceramics. He also created works of applied art, such as bowls, vases and candlesticks, and larger works such as sculptural reliefs for indoor public spaces.
For the 1929 World Expo in Barcelona, Juhn worked with Blanka Dužanec to create a ceramic frieze. He collaborated with architects Baranyai and Benedik on interior decoration designs.
Street and the Hinko Juhn Elementary School in Pogorac is named after its most famous former pupil.[ Ha-Kol (Glasilo Židovske zajednice u Hrvatskoj); Nataša Maksimović Subašić; Zora Dirnbach – Svjetionik s one strane nacionalizma; stranica 25; broj 110, lipanj / srpanj / kolovoz 2009.]
Exhibitions
Juhn exhibited frequently at home and abroad, especially at the Spring Salon in Zagreb, with the artist Society "Work" and at the international exhibition of contemporary decorative arts in Paris.
Group exhibitions
Recent exhibitions that have included works by Hinko Juhn:
* 2011 Art Deco in Croatian Art between the two world wars, Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb
The Museum of Arts and Crafts ( hr, Muzej za umjetnost i obrt) in Zagreb, Croatia, was established in 1880, by the initiative of the Arts Society and its former President Izidor Kršnjavi. Drawing on the theoretical precepts of England's Arts an ...
Public collections
Hinko Juhn's work can be found in the following public collections in Croatia:
* Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Glyptotheque, Zagreb
* Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka
References
Bibliography
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juhn, Hinko
1891 births
1940 deaths
Croatian Jews
Jews from Austria-Hungary
Croatian Austro-Hungarians
Yugoslav sculptors
Jewish sculptors
20th-century Croatian sculptors