128. Landscape with Kalnik [1939.]

Marijan Detoni (Križevci, 1905 - Zagreb, 1981) is often publicly recognized for his socially engaged art that documents the lives of urban poor. He was also a member of the "Land" group which was a key driver of modernist tendencies at the time. In the 1930s, Detoni documented societal injustices and interpreted them compassionately through his paintings and graphics. However, we must take into account that this season of his work was shorter-lived. Shortly after staying in Paris in 1939, Detoni painted Landscape with Kalnik. Inspired by modernist ideas and aesthetics, the Kalnik landscape leads to pre-abstract, phantasmagoric ecstasy. Detoni's simplified drawing technique, almost impulsive lines, and spontaneous composition enliven the landscape in an expressionistic manner. The artist uses a coloristic perspective, that is, he brings simplified architectural forms closer to the viewer's eye with warm colors, which also represent the fixation point. Despite the fact that the artist non-mimetically approaches the color and reduces trees and houses of the landscape to minimal forms, it is still possible to infer that this landscape is not a product of his imagination. It's about the spacious landscapes of Kalnik, the essence of which Detoni successfully kept.

Dimensions

width 70 cm, height 56 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed and dated lower left, in black, "Detoni 1939"

Research information

The work was exhibited at the large retrospective exhibition of Marijan Detoni in Zagreb, March 3 - 23, 1940, House of Fine Arts, where 235 works were presented, of which more than 80 are oil paintings, under catalog number 19. "Paysage s Kalnika II".

Dating

1939.

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