Miroslav Kraljević (14 December 1885 – 16 April 1913) was a

Croat The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

ian painter, printmaker and sculptor, active in the early part of the 20th century. He is one of the founders of modern art in Croatia. Kraljević studied painting in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

at the prestigious

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

along with Oskar Herman, Vladimir Becić and Josip Račić. This group of Croatian artists were later called the Munich Circle, known for their influence on

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradit ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. After Munich, Kraljević spent time in the family home at Požega, and then in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

where he produced his best work. 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

in April 1913, aged 27, from

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

. Miroslav Kraljević painted in many different styles, including

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Pointillism Pointillism (, ) is a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac developed the technique in 1886, branching from Impressionism. The term "Pointillism ...

and

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. He also became known for his drawings of grotesque or erotic characters, in a similar way to

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley ( ; 21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. ...

, and for his sculptures. Working in a variety of media, he used almost every painting and drawing technique in his portraits, figures, still lifes, animals and landscapes. His graphics used etching and woodcut, and sculptures were created in clay, plaster and bronze.

Biography

Miroslav Kraljević was born on 14 December 1885 in Gospić, in the area of

Lika Lika () is a traditional region of Croatia proper, roughly bound by the Velebit mountain from the southwest and the Plješevica mountain from the northeast. On the north-west end Lika is bounded by Ogulin-Plaški basin, and on the south-east by t ...

. He belonged to Kraljevic aristocratic family that got its nobility in 1694 by Leopold I. His early childhood up to 7th grade high school (1888 to 1902) was spent in

, though he completed high school in Gospić (1902–1904). He loved

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, and he was often seen drawing. In 1904, the young Kraljević left for

. There, in addition to studying law, he took painting lessons privately with George Fischhof. After two years he gave up the study of law and devoted himself to painting. In the autumn of 1906 Kraljević moved to

, where he spent two terms at the private school of Moritz Heymann, known for training excellent printermakers. After seven months in Munich, he enrolled in the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts and became a student of Hugo von Habermann. During his time there (1907–1910) he studied with fellow Croatian painters Josip Račić, Oskar Herman and Vladimir Becić. At that time Munich was an important center of the European art scene, particularly 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 and

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

. Upon completion of his studies in Munich, Kraljević returned to his family, who had by then moved to Požega, and where he spent 1910 and a good part of 1911. During this time, he painted ''Self-portrait with Dog'' (Croatian: Autoportret sa psom), and many of his other well-known portraits, landscapes and other works with rustic themes. He also returned to his interest in sculpture, producing works in clay, plaster and bronze. In 1911, Kraljević received a state grant to study in Paris. He formally enrolled in the Academy La Grande Chaumiére, but instead began to paint intensively at the studios of friends. Here Kraljević's creative talent came to the fore, and despite the advancing effects of

, he produced some of his best work, a range of motifs of Parisian life in drawings and oils. After a year, he left Paris and returned home to Požega. In the autumn of 1912 Kraljević went to Zagreb, where he organized his first solo exhibition, which had a retrospective character. He rented a studio, where he continued to paint until December 1913. Then he went to a

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...

in Berstovca for treatment. After two months, he left the hospital to return to Zagreb, where he died two days later on 16 April 1913 of

. He was only 27 years old. He is buried in the family grave in Požega.

Legacy

The "Munich Circle" marks the beginning of Croatian Modernism. The term was coined in the 1950s, referring to the four artists who studied at the Munich Academy of Art in the early 1900s. Miroslav Kraljević, along with fellow Croatian artists Joseph Račić, Vladimir Becić and Oscar Herman established modern art in Croatia, setting a new direction from the previously dominant academic traditions. Their art was autonomous artistic expression, without literary, historical or moralistic framework, which puts them in direct contact with French impressionism, particularly with Manet and Cézanne as role models. Miroslav Kraljević is one of the founders of Croatian modern painting, and almost from the beginning was an extremely versatile artist. His art can be hard to categorize, as he explored many different styles and techniques. Kraljević's graphic work displays strong tonal qualities and an excellent sense of light and dark relationships, perfectly suiting a sensitive temperament which could express extreme joy, but soon transform into deepest melancholy. The most mature pictures of Kraljević's creative period were produced while he was in Požega: Krave na paši (Cows at Pasture), Bik (Bull), and U staji (In the Stables). Broad strokes and sharp contrasts of color show the artist in his natural element, the countryside, rather than the bourgeois parlor atmosphere. Also in Požega, he painted one of his best-known and finest self-portraits: Self-portrait with Dog. There he created and anthological works of Croatian art, such as Portret tete Luike (Portrait of Aunt Luike), Djevojčica s lutkom (Girl with Dolls) and portraits of his mother and father, and the poetic landscape painted with impressionistic atmosphere. His work contains elements of both

(for example in Park Luxembourg), and

(Women in the Park). His pipe pictures, also created in Paris, show methods similar to Cézanne. The Gallery Miroslav Kraljević is an independent and non-profit contemporary art platform and gallery in Zagreb dedicated to promoting cutting-edge contemporary Croatian art and building links to the international art scene. It is named after Miroslav Kraljević "whose innovations exercised a decisive influence on Croatian visual art in the beginning of the 20th century".

Works

* Autoportret sa psom (Self-portrait with Dog) 1910. oil on canvas * Krave na paši (Cows at Pasture) 1910–11. oil on canvas * Bik (Bull) 1910–11. oil on canvas * U staji (In the Stables) 1910–11. oil on canvas * Autoportret s lulom (Self-portrait with a pipe) 1911–12. oil on canvas * Mali autoportret s paletom (Small self-portrait with a palette) 1911–12. oil on canvas * Bonvivant 1912. oil on canvas * Girl with a doll * Park Luxembourg * Women in the Park * Great Park * Female nude

Exhibitions

Solo exhibits

* 1912 Gallery Ulrich, Zagreb - Miroslav Kraljević Solo Exhibit * 1999 Gallery of Fine Arts, Osijek - Miroslav Kraljević Solo Show: prints and graphics from the

Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb The Museum of Arts and Crafts () 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 and Crafts movement and the intel ...

* 2004 Adris Gallery, Rovinj - Miroslav Kraljević Exhibit * 2013–2014

Modern Gallery, Zagreb Modern Gallery (; 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 Croatian artists. The colle ...

- largest retrospective exhibition of Kraljević's work to date, with nearly 200 works

Group exhibits

* 1914 International Printmaking Exhibition in Zagreb. An international print exhibition was held at which 160 artists took part, showing 870 works. Miroslav Kraljević was one of 14 Croatian artists exhibiting their work which included prints, drawings, pastels and watercolours. * 1942 Venice Bienniale - Miroslav Kraljević was one of the Croatian artists' work on display in the Croatian exhibit that year. * 1973 Art Pavilion Zagreb - Paintings of the Munich Circle * 2007 Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik - From the Permanent Collection

Public collections

Public Collections in Croatia that hold works by Miroslav Kraljević * Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik * MMSU - Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka, Rijeka * Galerija Umjetnina Split, Split * MSU Muzej Suvremene Umjetnosti / Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb Public Collection in Macedonia that holds work by Miroslav Kraljević * Nacionalna Galerija - Chifte Amam - Skopje, Skopje

Gallery

File:Miroslav Kraljević - Madona.jpg, ''Madonna'' File:Miroslav Kraljević - Apres.jpg, ''After'' File:Miroslav Kraljević - Golgotha.jpg, ''Golgotha'' File:Miroslav Kraljević - Zrelo voće.jpg, ''Ripe Fruit'' File:Miroslav Kraljević - Tri gracije.jpg, ''The Three Graces''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraljevic, Miroslav 19th-century Croatian painters 20th-century Croatian painters Croatian male painters 19th-century Croatian sculptors 20th-century Croatian sculptors 1885 births 1913 deaths People from Gospić Post-impressionist painters Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Alumni of the Académie de la Grande Chaumière 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Austria-Hungary 20th-century Croatian male artists