Slava Raškaj (; 2 January 1877 – 29 March 1906) was a
Croat
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...
ian painter, considered to be the greatest Croatian
watercolorist
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
of the late 19th and early 20th century. Deaf since birth, Raškaj was schooled in
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and
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 ...
, where her mentor was the renowned Croatian painter
Bela Čikoš Sesija. In the 1890s her works were exhibited around Europe, including at the
1900 Expo in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
. In her twenties Raškaj was diagnosed with acute
depression and was institutionalised for the last three years of her life before dying in 1906 from tuberculosis in Zagreb. The value of her work was largely overlooked by
art historian
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...
s in the following decades, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s interest in her work was revived.
Biography
![SR Pogled na Ozalj](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/SR_Pogled_na_Ozalj.jpg)
Slava was born as Friderika Slavomira Olga Raškaj on 2 January 1877 into a
middle class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
family (her mother Olga ran the local post office which was at the time a prestigious administrative position) in the town of
Ozalj
Ozalj (, hu, Ozaly, german: Wosail or ''Woseil'') is a town in central Croatia, located north of Karlovac and southwest of Jastrebarsko, on the Kupa River. It is close to Žumberak in the north and the border with Slovenia in the northwest, w ...
in present-day
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
(at the time in the
Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia ( hr, Kraljevina Hrvatska i Slavonija; hu, Horvát-Szlavónország or ; de-AT, Königreich Kroatien und Slawonien) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation with ...
, a subdivision within
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
).
Olga liked painting in her free time and she passed her love for arts very early on to both her daughters Slava and Paula (Paula later worked as a schoolteacher in
Orahovica
Orahovica is a town in Slavonia, Croatia. It is situated on the slopes of the mountain Papuk and positioned on the state road D2 Varaždin- Koprivnica- Našice- Osijek.
History
The name Orahovica is derived from the word ''orah'', meaning ...
and also continued to paint casually in adulthood).
![Slava Raškaj autoportret](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Slava_Ra%C5%A1kaj_autoportret.jpg)
When she was eight, Salva was sent to
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
to enroll at a school for deaf people where she first learned to draw. Her drawings from that period mainly depict casts of classical sculptures drawn in pencil or ink (two of these drawings survived and are kept on display at the Croatian School Museum at
Republic of Croatia Square
Republic of Croatia Square ( hr, Trg Republike Hrvatske) is one of the biggest squares in Zagreb, Croatia. The square is located in Lower Town, with the Croatian National Theatre building at its centre. It is sometimes billed as the "most ...
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 ...
).
During her time in Vienna she also learned German and French and in later years moved on to
watercolor
Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...
and
gouache
Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouache h ...
techniques before returning to Ozalj in 1893.
Upon her return, the local schoolteacher Ivan Muha-Otoić noticed her artistic talent and urged her parents to send her to Zagreb for further art instructions at the renowned painter
Vlaho Bukovac
Vlaho Bukovac (french: Blaise Bukovac; it, Biagio Faggioni; 4 July 1855 – 23 April 1922) was a Croatian painter and academic. His life and work were eclectic, for the artist pursued his career in a variety of locales and his style changed gre ...
's atelier in 1895 (as Bukovac was a friend of Muha-Otoić). Once in Zagreb, Bukovac refused to help her but then
Bela Čikoš Sesija took her in and began instructing her in his own studio in 1896. She spent the next few years working with Sesija - she lived at what was then the State Institute for Deaf-mute Children () on
Ilica Street, and she used a local
morgue
A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...
as her studio (in the meantime her former teacher from Ozalj Ivan Muha-Otoić became director of the Institute in 1895).
Raškaj's repertoire was peculiar at the time - she painted somewhat macabre paintings of
still life
A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...
, watercolors with unusual objects such as a
starfish
Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish ...
, a silver
jewelry
Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a western ...
chest, and even more interesting, pairs of objects such as a red
rose
A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...
and an
owl
Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
, or a
lobster
Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...
and a
fan.
image:Grabstelle190.JPG, 220px, Slava Raškaj's grave in
Ozalj
Ozalj (, hu, Ozaly, german: Wosail or ''Woseil'') is a town in central Croatia, located north of Karlovac and southwest of Jastrebarsko, on the Kupa River. It is close to Žumberak in the north and the border with Slovenia in the northwest, w ...
In the late 1890s she started painting ''en plein air'', depicting outdoor scenes from the Zagreb Botanical Garden, Maksimir Park and other parks in the city, featuring somewhat lighter tones and colors.
In 1899 she returned to her hometown of Ozalj and continued to paint outdoors, which was also unusual at the time. Her most valuable paintings were all created in the 1890s, including works such as ''Self-portrait'', ''Spring in Ozalj'', ''The Old Mill'' and others. Her works were first publicly exhibited at the
Art Pavilion in Zagreb soon after it opened in 1898, where six of her watercolors were presented along with the works of renowned painters such as
Menci Klement Crnčić and Vlaho Bukovac. Her paintings were also exhibited in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, in
Moscow
Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...
and at the ''
Exposition Universelle'' in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
in 1900, where five of her paintings were shown.
In 1900 first symptoms of
depression began to appear. She was hospitalised but soon after that she was released for
home care Homecare (also spelled as home care) is health care or supportive care provided by a professional caregiver in the individual home where the patient or client is living, as opposed to care provided in group accommodations like clinics or nursing ho ...
. However, her condition deteriorated further and Slava was eventually institutionalised at a
psychiatric hospital
Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...
in
Stenjevec
Stenjevec is one of the districts of Zagreb, Croatia. It is located in the western part of the city and has 61 000 inhabitants (as of 2011).
List of neighborhoods in Stenjevec
* Jankomir
* Malešnica
* "Matija Gubec"
* Stenjevec
* Špansko Špa ...
in 1902. She completely stopped painting in her last years, and died on 29 March 1906 from
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...
.
Legacy
The first exhibition dedicated to her work took place in 1957 in Zagreb. Her impressionist watercolors painted after 1900 are considered among the best of Croatian art.
A Croatian film about her controversial relationship with Sesija titled ''
100 Minutes of Glory
''100 Minutes of Glory'' ( hr, Sto minuta Slave) is a 2004 Croatian biographical drama film directed by Dalibor Matanić.
Cast
* Sanja Vejnović as Slava Raškaj
* Miki Manojlović as Bela Čikoš Sesija
* Vili Matula as Rapacki
* Nataša Lušeti ...
'' directed by
Dalibor Matanić
Dalibor Matanić (, born 21 January 1975) is a Croatian filmmaker.
His most well-known film is the 2002 feature '' Fine Dead Girls'' which won the Special Jury Prize at the 2003 Sochi film festival. His 2015 film '' The High Sun'' was screened ...
was released in 2004,
and a grand retrospective exhibition featuring 185 of her works opened at the
Klovićevi Dvori Gallery in Zagreb between May and August 2008.
In December 2000 the
Croatian National Bank
The Croatian National Bank ( hr, Hrvatska narodna banka or HNB; ) is the central bank of the Republic of Croatia.
HNB was established by the Constitution of Croatia which was passed by the Parliament of Croatia on 21 December 1990. Its main res ...
issued a silver commemorative coin depicting Slava Raškaj,
in their Famous Croatian Women series (''Znamenite Hrvatice''), along with children's writer
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (; 18 April 1874 – 21 September 1938) was a Croatian writer. Within her native land, as well as internationally, she has been praised as the best Croatian writer for children.
Early life
She was born on 18 April 1874 i ...
and the 17th-century noblewoman
Katarina Zrinska
Countess Ana Katarina Zrinska (c. 1625–1673) was a Croatian noblewoman and poet, born into the House of Frankopan, Croatian noble family. She married Count Petar Zrinski of the House of Zrinski in 1641 and later became known as Katarina Zrin ...
.
The Slava Raškaj Educational Centre, in Zagreb, specializes in inclusive practical and vocational education for deaf students and those with communication impairments.
Selected works
* “Stablo u snijegu” (Tree in the snow)
* “Rano proljeće” (Early spring)
* “Proljeće u Ozlju” (Spring in Ozalj)
* “Zimski pejsaž” (Winter landscape)
* “Lopoči” (
Water lilies
''Water Lilies'' (or ''Nymphéas'', ) is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings by French Impressionist Claude Monet (1840–1926). The paintings depict his flower garden at his home in Giverny, and were the main focus of his artisti ...
)
Gallery
File:01 Slava Raskaj Zuti pjetao i bijela kokos.jpg, ''Yellow Rooster and White Chicken''
File:Slava Raškaj - Kišni dan u Samoborskom gorju.jpg, ''Rainy Day in Somobor Hills''
File:Slava Raškaj - Studija jelena iz zvjerinjaka grofice Kegleviću u Loborskom parku.jpg, ''Study of Deer''
File:Slava Raškaj - Tri srne blizu naselja.jpg, ''Three Deer Near the Settlement''
File:Slava Raškaj - Obronak brda zimi.jpg, ''The Slope of Hills in Winter''
File:Slava Raškaj - Šuma zimi.jpg, ''The Forest in Winter''
File:Slava raskaj.jpg, ''Lilies''
File:Slava Raškaj - Mala gluhonjema Vera Papić iz sela.jpg, Vera Papić
File:Slava Raškaj - Krvave ruže za Hanibala.jpg, ''Bloody Roses for Hannibal''
File:Slava Raškaj - Pogled s brda na Samobor.jpg, ''View From the HIll on Samobor''
References
External links
Slava Raškaj short bioat the ''Croatian 19th century women painters'' collection
Article about the 2008 retrospectiveat the
Klovićevi dvori gallery website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raskaj, Slava
1877 births
1906 deaths
Deaf artists
20th-century deaths from tuberculosis
Disease-related deaths in Austria-Hungary
People from Ozalj
Croatian watercolourists
Croatian women artists
19th-century Croatian painters
19th-century women artists
20th-century Croatian painters
20th-century women artists
Women watercolorists
Croatian women painters
Croatian deaf people
Tuberculosis deaths in Croatia
Austro-Hungarian painters