Robert Frangeš-Mihanović (2 October 1872 – 12 January 1940) was a Croatian

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 ...

. He was a pioneer of modern Croatian sculpture. He was also a prominent figure in the artistic scene 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 ...

at the turn of the Twentieth Century.

Life

Frangeš-Mihanović was born on 2 October 1872 in

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Serbia. It is situated on the left bank of the Sava, Sava river. , the city has a total population of 36,764 inhabitants, while its adminis ...

, at the time part of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now in

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

). He graduated from the School of Crafts in

in 1889. Then he went to

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. ...

, where he studied at the

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

School (1889–1894) and the Art Academy (1894-1895). He continued his studies 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 ...

(1900-1901), where he met

Auguste Rodin François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...

and

Medardo Rosso Medardo Rosso (; 21 June 1858 – 31 March 1928) was an Italian sculptor. He is considered, like his contemporary and admirer Auguste Rodin, to have been an artist working in a post-Impressionist style. Biography and works Rosso was born in Tur ...

. Frangeš Mihanović taught at the School of Crafts in Zagreb (1895–1907). He also taught sculpture at the Art Academy. He was one of the initiators and organizers of the artistic life in Zagreb at the turn of the century, as one of the founders of the Croatian Artists' Society (1897), the folklore society of '' Lado'' (1904), and the Art Academy (1907). He founded the bronze foundry at the Academy and brought the first founders. He was a member of several academies:

JAZU The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...

SANU The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , SANU) is a national academy and the most prominent academic institution in Serbia, founded in 1841 as Society of Serbian Letters (, DSS). The Academy's membership has included Nobel laureates Ivo ...

and the

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

academy. He died in

. Along with Rudolf Valdec, Frangeš Mihanović was a pioneer of modern Croatian sculpture.

Works

His

medal A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be in ...

s and

certificate Certificate may refer to: * Birth certificate * Marriage certificate * Death certificate * Gift certificate * Certificate of authenticity, a document or seal certifying the authenticity of something * Certificate of deposit, or CD, a financial p ...

s with figurative and animal themes - ''Heracles the Bull'' (1899),''Vineyard Workers'' (1900), ''Turkey'' (1904), and ''Laborer'' (1906) - are the starting point of Croatian medal making. He created

statuette A figurine (a diminutive form of the word ''figure'') or statuette is a small, three-dimensional sculpture that represents a human, deity or animal, or, in practice, a pair or small group of them. Figurines have been made in many media, with cla ...

s, such as ''Timidity'' (1902), ''Flight to Egypt'' (1906), ''The Rape of Europa'' (1907);

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

s, such as '' V. Lisinski'' (1895); busts, such as ''

Antun Mihanović Antun Mihanović (10 June 1796 – 14 November 1861) was a Croatian poet and lyricist, most famous for writing the national anthem of Croatia, which was put to music by Josip Runjanin and adopted in 1891. Klanjec, his birthplace, holds a monument ...

'' (1908) in

Klanjec Klanjec () is a small town in northwestern Croatia, in the region of Hrvatsko Zagorje on the border with Slovenia. History In the late 19th and early 20th century, Klanjec was a district capital in Varaždin County (former), Varaždin County of t ...

and ''

Antun Antun () is a masculine given name used in Croatia and among people of Croatian descent elsewhere. It is a common given name, cognate to the name Anthony. Other such Croatian names include Ante, Anton and Toni. Antun is also a surname found in S ...

and

Stjepan Radić Stjepan Radić (11 June 1871 – 8 August 1928) was a Croat politician and the co-founder of the Croatian People's Peasant Party (HPSS), active in Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. He is credited with galvanizin ...

'' (1936) in Trebarjevo Desno. In 1897, he made ''The Dying Soldier'', a monument to the fallen soldiers of Šokčević's 78th Regiment in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

. Along with his ''Philosophy'' (1897) in Zagreb, ''The Dying Soldier'' is the earliest example of

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 ...

in Croatian sculpture. His most monumental work is the

equestrian sculpture An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin ''eques'', meaning 'knight', deriving from ''equus'', meaning 'horse'. A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an equine statue. A full-sized equestrian statue is a ...

King Tomislav Tomislav (, ) was the first king of Croatia. He became Duke of Croatia and was crowned king in 925, reigning until 928. During Tomislav's rule, Croatia forged an alliance with the Byzantine Empire against Bulgaria. Croatia's struggles with the F ...

'' (made in 1928–38, installed in 1947 in Zagreb). He also made graveyard statues in

Varaždin Varaždin ( or ; , also known by #Name, alternative names) is a city in Northern Croatia, north-east of Zagreb. The total population is 46,946, with 38,839 in the city settlement itself (2011). The city is best known for its baroque buildings, ...

(''Monument to Death'' on the Leitner family tomb, 1906) and

Mirogoj The Mirogoj City Cemetery (, ), also known as Mirogoj Cemetery (), is a cemetery park that is considered to be among the more noteworthy landmarks in the city of Zagreb. The cemetery inters members of all religious groups: Catholic, Orthodox, M ...

(''Worker'' on the Muller family tomb, 1935). He made architectural sculptural elements on buildings in Zagreb, such as the

allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughou ...

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s of Philosophy, Theology, Medicine, and Frustration on the

State Archive National archives are the archives of a country. The concept evolved in various nations at the dawn of modernity based on the impact of nationalism upon bureaucratic processes of paperwork retention. Conceptual development From the Middle Ages i ...

. His opus spans the styles of

academism Academic art, academicism, or academism, is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies of art. This method extended its influence throughout the Western world over several centuries, from its origins ...

symbolism Symbolism or symbolist may refer to: *Symbol, any object or sign that represents an idea Arts *Artistic symbol, an element of a literary, visual, or other work of art that represents an idea ** Color symbolism, the use of colors within various c ...

, and

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

(

). In his mature phase, he developed a personal style of free realism. He also engaged in artistic crafts.

References

Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Franges Mihanovic, Robert 19th-century Croatian sculptors 20th-century Croatian sculptors Artists from Zagreb 1872 births 1940 deaths Yugoslav sculptors Members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts Academic staff of the University of Zagreb Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery Croatian Austro-Hungarians People from Sremska Mitrovica Croats of Vojvodina Sculptors from Austria-Hungary