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 painters. Today, Račić is regarded as one of the most important representatives of Croatian modern painting. He studied lithography in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Sl ...

, and 1904 he went 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 ...

and

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, where he studied for a year at the school of the Slovene painter and teacher

Anton Ažbe Anton Ažbe (30 May 1862 – 5 or 6 August 1905) was a Slovene realist painter and teacher of painting. Ažbe, crippled since birth and orphaned at the age of 8, learned painting as an apprentice to Janez Wolf and at the Academies in Vienna and ...

, followed by 3 years at the prestigious

Academy of Arts An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. There, Račić, along with Oskar Herman, Vladimir Becić and Miroslav Kraljević formed the group known as the Croatian School. In 1908, he went to Paris where he painted a series of watercolors and oils depicting Parisian bridges, avenues and parks. He died of a gunshot wound in a Paris hotel room in June 1908, having committed suicide. Josip Račić is one of the founders of modern Croatian art, the first to bring the concept of self-awareness and artistic integrity to his life and works, ''"pure painting"'', as he called it. A particular feature of his paintings is the strong dark realms of human spirituality. A retrospective of his work was held in the Modern Gallery in Zagreb and Dubrovnik in 2008–2009, to mark the 100th anniversary of the artist's death.

Biography

Josip Račić was born on 22 March 1885 in Horvati, near

(today the area of Knežija and Srednjaci). From 1892 to 1896 he went to the lower town general elementary school for boys in Samostanska ulica in Zagreb (today called the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Elementary School). His elementary school drawing master was the artist Oton Iveković. From 1896 to 1900 he attended the Royal High School in Zagreb, which is now the home of the Mimara Museum. Račić learned the trade of

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone ( lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German ...

from 1900 to 1903 from Vladimir Rožankowsky, a master craftsman and owner of a lithographic studio in Zagreb. In 1904 he went to Munich to study at the School of

who very quickly noticed Račić's talents and encouraged him to go on working and studying. In 1905, Račić was briefly employed as a lithographic draughtsman in the firm of Deutsches Verlag R. Bong und Comp in Berlin, but later the same year returned to Munich and entered the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied for three years (1905–1908) under such teachers as Johann and Ludwig Herterich, and Hugo von Habermann. At that time Munich was a center of European art scene for realism,

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

Symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: Arts * Symbolism (arts), a 19th-century movement rejecting Realism ** Symbolist movement in Romania, symbolist literature and visual arts in Romania during the late 19th and early 20th centuries ** Russian sym ...

and

Jugendstil ''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...

. Josip Račić, along with Oskar Herman, Vladimir Becić and Miroslav Kraljević, formed the group then known as ''Die Kroatische Schule'' (The Croatian School). In Croatian art history they are referred to as the '' Munich Circle'' or the ''Munich Four''. Their work drew much on the painting of Wilhelm Leibl and

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bor ...

(whose work they had the opportunity to see in Munich in 1907) and of older masters, the works of

Frans Hals Frans Hals the Elder (, , ; – 26 August 1666) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, chiefly of individual and group portraits and of genre works, who lived and worked in Haarlem. Hals played an important role in the evolution of 17th-century gro ...

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and e ...

and Velázquez. Josip Račić's own work displayed strong tonal architectural qualities, with marked fullness of form and a profound psychology in the figures. In 1908, Račić moved to Paris, where he copied works from the Louvre, painted parks, river bank and café scenes, portraits and self-portraits. Josip Račić died of gunshot wounds in a Paris hotel room on 20 June 1908. He had committed suicide for reasons that still remain unclear.

Legacy

Josip Račić is considered one of the greatest enigmas of Croatian modern art. From simple beginnings, he arrived in Munich, at that time one of the great creative centers of the European art scene, and found for himself inspiration in the paintings of Leibl, Manet and the Impressionists, and the tradition of Velázquez and

Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally co ...

. According to Miroslav Krleža, Račić was one of the first pioneers of the Munich Academy of art, his attitude is certainly important as the Leibl phenomenon in the history of German painting. The early 20th century saw great changes in

European art The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period between the Paleo ...

, and Croatian art was also taking on a new form. The Munich Four were part of the new direction, especially "J. Račić and M. Kraljević, who in their short lives succeeded in creating works pivotal to the continued development of art". "Do not be in any doubt as to Račić's inherent artistic sensibility and the authenticity of his power to think. (...) Račić's painting is at the top the end of the development of traditional realism in the broad sense of the word. Oriented toward Manet, the idealized Goya and focused shaping of forces: the true pictorial interpretation of emotions. His work certainly stands above all" Radoslav Putar Račić's work is extremely important for the birth of the Croatian modern art and its incorporation into European trends of modern painting. The Josip Račić Modern Gallery Studio in Zagreb is named in honour of the artist. It is associated with the Modern Gallery, and is dedicated to the presentation of the works of Croatian contemporary artists.

Exhibits

* 1920 The first solo (posthumous) exhibit of his work was arranged by Ljubo Babić in the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. * 1961

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 ...

Josip Račić Exhibition * 2004 Adris Gallery, Rovinj Josip Račić Exhibition open: from 23 July – 20 September 2004. From the collection of the Modern Gallery in Zagreb * 2008 Modern Gallery in Zagreb The first complete retrospective of works by Josip Račić, one of the most important representatives of Croatian modern painting. The most complete presentation of the oeuvre of Račić to date. It showed almost all the Račić works held in museums, galleries and privately in and outside Croatia. Also included are works recently ascribed to the great painter, works the attribution of which to Račić is still in dispute, a large selection of documentation (letters, photographs, postcards and picture postcard) as well as a selection of the works of the great world masters who were Račić's models. The exhibit included more than one hundred works, oils, watercolors and drawings. In addition to works from the holdings of the Modern Gallery, there were works borrowed from other collections by Croatian and foreign museums and private owners that provided the widest and deepest insight into the relatively meager work of the artist whose life ended in his 24th year. A significant part of the exhibition were Račić's childhood drawings, documentary materials, which completes the picture of his short but very productive life and work. * 2009 Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik Josip Račić – A Retrospective Exhibition Works by Josip Račić are on display in the Modern Gallery in Zagreb as part of its permanent collection.

Works

* Muškarac sa šalom (Man with scarf), 1907. oil on canvas * Portret starog prijatelja I (Portrait of an Old Friend I), 1907. oil on canvas * Portret starog prijatelja II (Portrait of an Old Friend II), 1907. oil on canvas * Starac u crvenom prsluku (Old Man with Red Vest), 1907. oil on canvas * Dama u bijelom (Lady in White), 1907. oil on canvas Alternative title: Portret gospode u bijeloj bluzi (Woman in a White Blouse)? * Gospođica u crnom (Woman in Red), 1907. oil on canvas Portret gospode u crnini (1907) * Portret gospode sa sesirom (Portrait of Woman with Hat) (1907)oil on canvas * Portret sestre Pepice (Portrait of Sister Pepice), 1907. oil on canvas * Ženski akt (Female Nude), 1907. oil on canvas * Autoportret (Self-portrait), 1908. oil on canvas * U kavani (In the Cafe), 1908. watercolour * Kavana na boulevaru (Cafe on the Boulevard), 1908. akvarel * Majka i dijete (Mother and Child), 1908. oil on canvas * Portret slikara Schuleina (Portrait of the artist Schuleina?) (1908) * Pont des Arts (Bridge of the Arts), 1908. oil on canvas * U parku (In the Park), 1908. watercolour * U razgovoru (Conversation), 1908. watercolour * Pred ogledalom (In Front of the Mirror), 1908. watercolour * Na boulevaru I (On the Boulevard I), 1908. watercolour * Na boulevaru II (On the Boulevard II), 1908.watercolour

Gallery

File:Josip Račić - Na Seini.jpg, On the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plate ...

File:Josip Račić - Kavana na bulevaru.jpg, Café on the Boulevard File:Josip Račić - U Kavani.jpg, In the Café File:Josip Račić - Djevojka pred ogledalom.jpg, Girl in front of the mirror File:Josip Račić - Place D'Etoile.jpg, Place de l'Étoile File:Josip Račić - Park Luxembourg.jpg,

Jardin du Luxembourg The Jardin du Luxembourg (), known in English as the Luxembourg Garden, colloquially referred to as the Jardin du Sénat (Senate Garden), is located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, France. Creation of the garden began in 1612 when Marie de ...

File:Josip Račić - Dama u Crnom.jpg, Woman in Black File:Josip Račić - Portret Schüleina.jpg, Portrait of Schüleine

References

External links

Online exhibit of his works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Racic, Josip 1885 births 1908 suicides Artists from Zagreb Realist painters Suicides by firearm in France Artists who committed suicide Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni 19th-century Croatian painters 20th-century Croatian painters Croatian male painters 1908 deaths 19th-century Croatian male artists 20th-century Croatian male artists