Tone Kralj (23 August 1900 – 9 September 1975) was a Slovene

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

also known for his wall paintings and

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation or visual explanation of a text, concept or process, designed for integration in print and digital published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vid ...

s. Kralj was born in Zagorica near

Dobrepolje The Municipality of Dobrepolje (; sl, Občina Dobrepolje) is a municipality in Slovenia. It lies in a karst valley approximately south of the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. The administrative seat of the municipality is in Videm. The area is par ...

Lower Carniola Lower Carniola ( sl, Dolenjska; german: Unterkrain) is a traditional region in Slovenia, the southeastern part of the historical Carniola region. Geography Lower Carniola is delineated by the Ljubljana Basin with the city of Ljubljana to the no ...

in 1900. He studied

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

between 1920 and 1923 and then 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 ...

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 ...

, and

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. Some of his best-known works are the wall paintings in various churches. His 1954 illustrations for

Fran Levstik Fran Levstik (28 September 1831 – 16 November 1887) was a Slovene writer, political activist, playwright and critic. He was one of the most prominent exponents of the Young Slovene political movement. Life and work Levstik was born in 18 ...

Martin Krpan Martin Krpan is a fictional character created on the basis of the Inner Carniolan oral tradition by the 19th-century Slovene writer Fran Levstik in the short story ''Martin Krpan from Vrh pri Sveti Trojici'' ( sl, Martin Krpan z Vrha pri Sveti ...

are also some of the most iconic images for the story. He won the

Levstik Award The Levstik Award ( sl, Levstikova nagrada) is a literary award in Slovenia awarded for achievements in children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1949 by the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House, making it the first literary award established ...

in 1950 for his illustrations for ''Pravljica o carjeviču Jeruslanu'' (The Story of Prince Jeruslan). He died in

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the ar ...

in 1975. In 1972 he received the

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award ( sl, Prešernova nagrada), also called the Grand Prešeren Award ( sl, Velika Prešernova nagrada), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each yea ...

for his life's work. List of the Grand Prešeren Awards recipients
Slovenian Ministry of Culture

References

Dinner by Tone Kralj 1975 Yugoslavia stamp

1900 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Slovenian sculptors Slovenian illustrators Levstik Award laureates Prešeren Award laureates 20th-century Slovenian painters 20th-century Slovenian male artists 19th-century sculptors People from the Municipality of Dobrepolje Slovenian male painters {{slovenia-artist-stub