50. Long Live the King (study) [1911.]

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50. Long Live the King (study) [1911.]

Oton Iveković

1869, Klanjec - 1939, Klanjec

Estimate:

EUR 2.500 - 3.500

Sold

EUR 3.250

ink wash, diluted ink and gouache on cardboard, 52 x 100 cm, signed and dated lower right, in ink, "Oton Iveković 1911"

Research information

The work is a study for the monumental piece "Vivat Rex" from 1911, which was commissioned by Izidor Kršnjavi from Oton Iveković, one of the most influential political and cultural figures of that time.

Oton Iveković (Klanjec, 1869. - Zagreb, 1939.) is recognized as a painter of Croatian history. Iveković's works have deeply ingrained themselves into the collective, national consciousness and have become a part of Croatian identity. The work Vivat Rex, also known as The Croatians electing Ferdinand of Hapsburg as their ruler, was long beyond public reach. Only last year, in 2023, this work was finally exhibited in the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery after more than a hundred years. In preparation for a canvas of 250 x 500 cm, Iveković creates a study depicting the historical moment from the Cetin Assembly in 1527. It shows Croatian nobility recognizing the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand of Hapsburg as the Croatian king. Until last year, the painting "Vivat Rex" had only been publicly exhibited once, at the Art Society exhibition in 1911. That exhibition was a response to the International Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture in Rome, where Dalmatian artists gathered in the Medulić Society (Dešković, Krizman, Medović, Rački, Rendić, Rosandić), led by Meštrović and Bukovac, refused to exhibit their works in the Hungarian pavilion due to the prohibition of displaying national identity. Instead, they exhibited their works in the pavilion of the Kingdom of Serbia. This act by Dalmatian artists provoked indignation in the Monarchy, including artists from Banske Croatia, among whom Iveković stood out. Therefore, Iveković, in order to emphasize cultural and cultural "loyalty" to the Habsburg monarchy, along with Kršnjavi, planned to organize a "counter-exhibition" called "Vivat Habsburg" in Vienna during the Rome exhibition, for which he commissioned the mentioned painting. However, this idea was not realized and everything remained only at the Art Society exhibition in Zagreb.

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