Ljubomir Tito Stjepan Babić (14 June 1890 – 14 May 1974) was a Croatian artist, museum curator and literary critic. As an artist, he worked in a variety of media including oils, tempera, watercolour, drawing, etching, and lithography. He was one of the most influential figures in the Zagreb art scene between the two world wars. He collaborated with director

Branko Gavella Branko Gavella (29 July 1885 – 8 April 1962) was a Croatian theatre director, critic and essayist. Biography Born in Zagreb, Croatia (which was at the time part of Austria-Hungary) Gavella finished high school in his hometown before enrolling a ...

in creating a series of set designs for the

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb ( hr, Hrvatsko narodno kazalište u Zagrebu), commonly referred to as HNK Zagreb, is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened ...

. In 1940 he became a full professor at the

Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb The Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb ( hr, Akademija likovnih umjetnosti u Zagrebu or ALU) is a Croatian art school based in Zagreb. It is one of the three art academies affiliated with the University of Zagreb, along with the Academy of Dramatic Art ...

. He held exhibitions at home and abroad and published many articles on art history and critiques of contemporary art events. He wrote and illustrated many books, worked on designs for posters, interiors and decorative arts objects.

Biography

Ljubomir Tito Stjepan Babić was born in

Jastrebarsko Jastrebarsko (; hu, Jaska), colloquially known as Jaska, is a town in Zagreb County, Croatia. History Antiquity In 1865, remnants of a Roman settlement were uncovered in Repišće, Klinča Sela, a village in Jastrebarsko metropolitan area ...

on 14 June 1890, the son of Judge Antun Babić and Milka (née Kovačić), and nephew of the author Ljubo Babić (better known as

Ksaver Šandor Gjalski Ksaver Šandor Gjalski (26 October 1854 – 6 February 1935) was a Croatian writer and civil servant. He was born Ljubomil Babić at Gredice, near Klanjec in Hrvatsko Zagorje into a minor aristocratic family. He finished high school in Varaž ...

). The Babić family had been raised to the nobility in 1716 by Charles VI Habsburg. The Babić family seat was Gredice near

Zabok Zabok is a town and situated in northwest Croatia in the Krapina-Zagorje County. According to the 2011 census, it has a total population of 8,994, with 2,714 in Zabok itself. Zabok is situated on the main crossroads in the heart of Hrvatsko Zagor ...

, which had been purchased by Babić's grandfather. Following his father's work transfers, young Ljubo attended elementary school in Slatina,

Glina Glina is a word of Slavic origin, meaning "clay". It may refer to: * Glina (river) in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina *Glina, Croatia, a town in Croatia ** Glina massacres, 1941 * Glina, Piotrków County in Łódź Voivodeship (central Poland) * ...

and

. He attended high school in

Bjelovar Bjelovar ( hu, Belovár, german: Bellowar, Kajkavian: ''Belovar'') is a city in central Croatia. It is the administrative centre of Bjelovar-Bilogora County. At the 2021 census, there were 36,433 inhabitants, of whom 93.06% were Croats. History ...

, with the final two years in the Donji Grad gymnasium in Zagreb. During that time, he attended private art school with

Menci Clement Crnčić Menci Clement Crnčić (Bruck an der Mur, Austria, 3 April 1865 – Zagreb, 9 November 1930) was a Croatian painter, printmaker, teacher and museum director. He studied painting and drawing in Vienna and Munich, and trained in graphic arts in Vien ...

and Bela Čikoš Sesija, and took classes at the School of Arts and Crafts. After completing high school in 1908, at his father's encouragement he enrolled in the

Faculty of Law A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In American usage such divisions are generally referred to as colleges ...

at Zagreb University, but soon abandoned his studies for painting. Thanks to a scholarship from Count Teodor Pejačević Babić was able to attend the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

where he studied painting with

Angelo Jank Angelo Jank (30 October 1868 in Munich – 9 October 1940 in Munich) was a German animal painter, illustrator and member of the Munich Secession. He was the son of the German painter Christian Jank and specialized in scenes with horses and rider ...

(1910–11), and

Franz von Stuck Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with '' The ...

(1911–13). In Munich, he completed a course of artistic anatomy at the Medical School while also studying set design at the Künstlertheater. In 1913-14 he went on to complete his art studies in Paris, returning to his homeland at the beginning of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He exhibited his artworks as a part of

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia ( sr-cyr, Краљевина Србија, Kraljevina Srbija) was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Princi ...

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

at International Exhibition of Art of 1911. There he opened a "modern painting school" in his studio, but soon afterwards accepted a teaching position at the School of Arts, (now the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute o ...

) where he became a full professor in 1940, working there for 45 years until he retired in 1961. During the 1930s, he visited other schools and institutes around Europe in order to learn from their experience and improve teaching at the Zagreb academy. In 1932, he graduated in art history from the Faculty of Philosophy,

Zagreb University The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

. In addition to his painting and teaching careers, Ljubo Babić was the first curator of the Modern Gallery in Zagreb (1919) whose inaugural exhibition featured the previously unknown works of

Josip Račić Josip Račić (22 March 1885 – 19 June 1908) was a Croatian painter in the early 20th century. Although he died very young (he was only 23), and his work was mostly created during his student years, he is one of the best known modern Croatian p ...

. He organized exhibitions of modern French and German Art in Zagreb, and an exhibition of medieval art from Yugoslavia in Paris in 1950. For many years he was the director of

The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters ( hr, Strossmayerova galerija starih majstora) is a fine art museum in Zagreb, Croatia exhibiting the collection donated to the city by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer in 1884. Located at 11 Nikola Šubić Zrin ...

(from 1947) responsible for organizing many important exhibitions. Babić was one of the organizers of the Croatian Spring Salon (1916), the Independent group of Croatian artists (1923), the Group of Three (1929), Group of Four (1928), the group of Croatian artists (1936) and Croatian artists (1939). Ljubo Babić was elected as a Member of

Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...

in 1928, becoming a full member in 1950. He died 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 ...

on 14 May 1974.

Legacy

Ljubo Babić was a central figure in the Croatian art scene in the period between the two world wars. His views provided a strong influence over the art of the time. His early work from Munich shows some poetic symbolism and art nouveau. In portraits, he soon began to depict the more psychological characteristics of his subject. From 1916, expressionistic ideas and themes appeared, and a move towards abstraction, resulting in some of his finest works. In November 1916, on the death of

Emperor Francis Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, all the streets of Zagreb were dressed in black flags. Inspired by this image, Babić, then aged 26, painted the scene from the second floor window of his studio on Ilica Street. In the foreground is a long, torn black flag and behind it are ominous clouds, and below the people passing. Black Flag (''crna zastava'') stands as one of his most memorable images. Writer

Miroslav Krleža Miroslav Krleža (; 7 July 1893 – 29 December 1981) was a Yugoslav and Croatian writer who is widely considered to be the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century. He wrote notable works in all the literary genres, including poetry (''Ba ...

said of Babić - in the years between 1916 and 1922 - that he was strongly influenced by the time and by his own ideas. A strong influence on both was the poet

Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević Silvije Strahimir Kranjčević (; 17 February 1865 – 29 October 1908) was a Croatian poet. His reflexive poetry, reaching its zenith in the 1890s, was a turning point that ushered modern themes in Croatian poetry. Early life Kranjčevi ...

. Babić illustrated Kranjčević's "Songs" (''Pjesme'', 1908) and many of the poet's themes entered Babić's own work. From the inspiration of the mountain Velebit as seen from Crnčić, Babić created one of his most successful series: "View from the Sky" (''Pogled s neba''), "Aerial view" (''Arielov pogled''). He would later be known as the father of modern landscape painting in Croatia. A journey to Spain in 1920 resulted in an expressive series of paintings, including the powerful black "Fishermen" (''Ribere''). This cycle of Spanish street scenes was well received and stands as a high point of Babić's own art and Croatian painting in general. Around 1930, Babić started a series of landscapes and people from around Croatia. He would travel south in the summer months, sketching scenes from Koločep and Pelješca, to Čiovo and Trogir (1930–1936). He was working on what he called "native expression", believing that the landscape, historical experience and folk art could reveal the characteristics of the people. Back in his studio, he created an impressive cycle of landscapes (the series Homeland, ''Rodni kraj'' 1933-1939). This series brings his art close to documentary work and Babić worked closely with

Matica hrvatska Matica hrvatska ( la, Matrix Croatica) is the oldest independent, non-profit and non-governmental Croatian national institution. It was founded on February 2, 1842 by the Croatian Count Janko Drašković and other prominent members of the Illyri ...

on aspects of folk heritage and modern cultural and artistic issues. Babić was one of the creators of the golden years of Zagreb theatre life in the 1920s/30s. He made his debut as set designer in 1918, altogether creating about 180 designs (often also sketches for the costumes) for drama, comedy and operatic performances. His designs were always based on the logic of the stage events, and contributed greatly to the development of dramatic action. He was also the founder of the first artistic Puppet Theatre in Zagreb (1920), and his set designs for the Paris Expo in 1925, earned him the Grand Prix. In addition to being a creative artist and designer, Babić was also an interpreter and popularizer of art: as an art writer and critic, as a lecturer, and as a museum curator. He was the most reliable interpreter of Croatian heritage in art museums and exhibitions between 1919-1948. He also created posters and some very successful books on art (1908–1960). Babić's literary output includes 20 books, brochures and special editions, around 400 articles in periodicals, many encyclopedia articles and several educational programs. In addition to educational and critic works, he left a number of travel and autobiographical texts. Babić's travelogue text New York "skyline" was included in an anthology America Spectrum from one hundred forty-one works of European writers and works (Spektrum America aus Werken hunderteinundvierzig europäischer Dichter und Werken), Wien-München-Manutius Press, 1964. He was a member of several editorial boards of literary magazines, and editor of the Academy bulletin 1957.

Works

Paintings

* From Munich Studio (''Iz münchenskog atelijera''), 1911 * Self-portrait (''Autoportret''), 1912 * Portrait of A.G. Matoš (''Portret A. G. Matoša''), 1913 * Black flag (''Crna zastava''), 1916 * Portrait of Miroslav Krleza (''Portret M. Krleže''), 1918 * Christ (''Krist''), around 1918 * Krajolik, 1918 * Red Flags (''Crveni stjegovi'') I. i II., 1919 * View from Brestovca (''Pogled s Brestovca''), 1919 * Crucifixion (''Golgota''), 1919 * Izgradnja, 1919 * Raspeće, 1920 * Spanish cycle (watercolours) (''ciklus akvarela S puta po Španjolskoj''), 1920 * Pogreb, 1926 * Croatian peasant (''Hrvatski seljak''), 1926 * Figs (''Smokve''), 1928 * Spring flowers (''Proljetno cvijeće''), 1930 * Figs at Vignja (''Smokvice kod Vignja''), 1930 * Landscape (''Pejzaž''), 1931 * The Road to Koločep (''Put na Koločepu''), 1932 * Nevenka, 1932 * S Mrežnice, 1932 * My Studio (''Moj atelijer''), 1933 * Portrait of my wife (''Portret supruge''), 1934 * Spring Countryside (''Proljetni pejzaž''), 1936 * Autumn on Ciovo (''Jesen na Čiovu''), 1936 * Self-portrait (''Autoportret''), 1937 * Zagorje Countryside (''Zagorski pejzaž''), 1937 * Homeland (''Rodni kraj'') (Pred večernjicu), 1938 * Janica, 1938 * Dried Flowers (''Suho cvijeće''), 1942 * Spring, house and me (''Proljeće, kuća i ja''), 1953 * From my Garden (''Iz mog vrta''), 1956 * Orebi, 1964

Theatrical Set Designs

* Verdi: Othelo, 1918 * Goethe: Faust, 1921 * Krleža: Golgota, 1922 * Širola-Babić: Sjene, 1923 * Debussy: Peleas i Melisanda, 1923 * Shakespeare: King Richard III, 1923 * Krleža: Vučjak, 1923 * Shakespeare: Na tri kralja…, 1924 * Wedekind: Proljeće se budi, 1924 * Shakespeare: Hamlet, 1929 * Beethoven: Fidelio, 1930 * Büchner: Dantonova smrt, 1937 * Cesarec: Sin domovine, 1940 * Pirandello: Večeras improviziramo, 1941 * Shakespeare: Hamlet (nova verzija, neostvareno), 1941

Book Illustrations

* Kumičić: Začuđeni svatovi, 1910 * Kučera-Plivelić-Božičević: Novovjeki izumi, 1910 * Nazor: Hrvatski kraljevi, 1912 * Dante: Čistilište, 1912 * Bazala: Povijest filozofije, 1912 * Vidrić: Pjesme, 1914 * Donadini: Lude priče, 1915 * Schneider: Oprema opere, 1916 * Nehajev: Studija o Hamletu, 1917 * Krleža: Pjesme I, Pjesme II, 1918 * Vijavica (časopis), 1919 * Juriš (časopis), 1919 * Plamen (časopis), 1919 * Begović: Dunja u kovčegu, 1921 * Cesarec: Careva kraljevina, 1925 * Shakespeare: Sabrana djela (nedovršeno), 1947–1960 * Ljetopis popa Dukljanina, 1950 * Ariosto: Bijesni Orlando, 1953 * A.G. Matoš: Sabrana djela (nedovršeno), 1953–1955 * Goethe: Faust, 1955

Books and publications

* Maestral, 1931 * Croatian Art in the 19th Century (''Umjetnost kod Hrvata u XIX. stoljeću''), Zagreb 1934 * Under Italian Skies (''Pod italskim nebom''), Zagreb 1937 * Croatian Art (''Umjetnost kod Hrvata'') (SD, I), Zagreb 1943 * Masters Revival (''Majstori preporoda'') (SD, II), Zagreb 1943 * Colour and Harmony (''Boja i sklad''), Zagreb 1943 * Unfied Forms (''Oblici umieća''), I. knj. (SD, III), Zagreb 1944 * The Golden Age of Spanish Painting (''Zlatni viek španjolskog slikarstva'') (SD, IV), Zagreb 1944 * Honoré Daumier, Zagreb 1951 * French Paintings of the 19th Century (''Francusko slikarstvo XIX. stoljeća''), Zagreb 1953 * Between Two Worlds (''Između dva svijeta''), Zagreb 1955 * Izabrana djela (s C. Fiskovićem), Zagreb 1985

Exhibitions

Babić exhibited from 1910 until his death in 1974 in solo, group and collective shows around the world, including the "Medulića" Munich annual exhibition with other artists of the Vienna (Austria) Secession, the Croatian Spring Salon, Lade exhibitions, Independent Artists, Group of Three, Croatian artists, the XXI Venice Biennale, and in a number of other exhibitions of Croatian and Yugoslav artists. At the Exposition internationale in Paris 1925 and in New York in 1926, he worked in the International Theatre Exhibition.

Solo shows

* 2010/11 Ljubo Babić – Antologija (Anthology) Modern gallery, Zagreb. * 1975/6 Ljubo Babić Retrospektiva, Modern Gallery, Zagreb

Group shows

Recent exhibitions of Babić's work include: * 2008 From the holdings of the museum - Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik * 2006 Croatian Collection - Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje, Skopje

Public collections

Babić's work can be found in the following public collections Croatia *

Modern Gallery, Zagreb Modern Gallery ( hr, Moderna galerija; since 2021 the National Museum of Modern Art, ) is a museum in Zagreb, Croatia that holds the most important and comprehensive collection of paintings, sculptures and drawings by 19th and 20th century Croati ...

Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb The Museum of Contemporary Art ( hr, Muzej suvremene umjetnosti, often abbreviated to MSU) is a contemporary art museum located on Dubrovnik Avenue in Zagreb, Croatia. It is the biggest and most modern museum in the country. History The museum ...

* Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik *

Gallery of Fine Arts, Split The Museum of Fine Arts ( hr , Galerija umjetnina), is an art museum in Split, Croatia containing works from the 14th century up to the present day providing an overview of the artistic developments in the local art scene. The museum was founded ...

* Art Museum, Osijek * Fine Art Gallery, Rijeka Macedonia (F.Y.R.M.) * Museum of Contemporary Art Skopje

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babic, Ljubo 1890 births 1974 deaths Croatian designers Croatian art historians Croatian art critics Croatian curators Croatian educational theorists Yugoslav painters Yugoslav historians Yugoslav art critics Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts People from Jastrebarsko Vladimir Nazor Award winners Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery 20th-century Croatian painters Croatian male painters 20th-century Croatian male artists