ulje na šperploči, 52 x 67 cm, signed at the bottom right, in blue, "Lj. Ivančić"

PROVENANCE

the artist gifted the artwork to the current owner; well-known collection, Zagreb

Ljubo Ivančić (Split, 1925 – Zagreb, 2003) was a Croatian painter and sculptor. He was born into a large family in Split who lived modestly and in poverty. His first drawing teachers were Antun Zupa and Živko Kljaković. He left high school to join the Partisans, for whom he drew propaganda materials. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1949 and held his first solo exhibition in 1954, which took critics by surprise. He taught at the Academy of Fine Arts, and led the post-graduate painting study at the master workshop of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was a regular member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. His studies, later business life, and artistic work were marked by a severe illness from which he produced his masterpieces. During his life, Ivančić created landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and nudes. At the start of his painting career, his role models were Mediterranean predecessors – E. Vidović, J. Plančić and M. Tartaglia. His landscapes are concrete, either Dalmatian or from Zagreb, often painted through rain, fog, or night. By the late 1950s, he was drawn to Informal painting, with his dark works from that period radiating anxiety. This period saw the creation of his best works – "Self-portrait with an Easel" and "Fishbone and Pan". In the 1970s, light and color returned to his work. His main motif on large canvases became isolated figures in space. In this period, he fell seriously ill again and turned to modeling while immobile. The 1990s saw him start to depict religious motifs. His very successful self-portraits deform his own face, giving them a sense of tragedy. Light and dark often struggle in Ivančić's paintings. In "Thoughtful Landscape," an oil on plywood, he offers a different perspective of an exterior – a fish-eye view. The dynamic composition shows a dark green avenue leading to a bright core. Although the light blue core of the picture covers the smallest area, it draws the most attention. Ivančić's work is often associated with descriptions of hopelessness, meaninglessness, specters, impotence. However, this work appears extremely positive, as if light has finally begun to overcome darkness.

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