CROATIAN MODERN PAINTING 2008 - IVO REŽEK

Ivo Režek (1898 – 1979) Ivo Režek is one of the crucial figures in contemporary Croatian Art, particularly from the first half of the twentieth century. Thematic stratification of his native region left on his artistic opus an irreversible mark. However, the basic formation of this painter took place in the heart of Europe, acquiring classical experiences and at that time current modernity, in Prague and Paris, where he continued with his studies. He was one of the few of our painters gaining precious knowledge of a dominant style first hand. In direct contact with paintings of Picasso and Derain he managed through symbiosis to connect experiences of a prevailing contemporary magical realism with immanent feeling for classic gesture and human philosophy of life, which gave birth to one of the most European fine arts contributions from the 1920’s and 1930’s. Ivo Režek was born on May 28,1898 in Varaždin where he finished elementary and secondary school. In 1925 he began his studies of fine art in Zagreb, and after the war he continued his studies in Prague. He graduated in 1924 and departed to Paris where he lived with short interruptions until1928. He exhibited with success at the Salon d’Automne (1925.) and Salon des Tuilleries (1926.), and had one man shows at the Montparnasse Gallery. He was very close to André Derain, having painted in his studio, and he new Picasso personally. By magisterial form of accentuated plasticizm in his early formation as an artist, he came as close as possible to this great artist of contemporary art and his figurative compositions of women bathers prove it. At the same time he spent a lot of time gaining precious knowledge of his craft at the Louvre in Paris, copying old masters, particularly Velázquez a Spanish artist. After returning to Zagreb in1930’s, Režek simply picked up the thread of a native tradition of engaged painting. He immersed himself more deeply in his native milieu, revealing fatal relationships between people and the environment. Awakened feelings of nationality in that crucial moment bound him permanently to the motif of his native Zagorje and hard lives of peasants. This benevolent observer was skilled and seasoned his vision with original characteristic humour, but harshness of impartial chronicler of reality. That bound him to the painters of the Zemlja Group, although he never formally joined them, he always remained free of any programmes and ideologies. He differed from the naive narration and criticism of the Zemlja Group by his commitment bearing his strong personal stamp of compassionate chronicler. And while the village motif slipped more and more into Režek’s paintings, at the same time the lasting parallel characteristic figures of magic realism saturated ever more the accentuated personality of the artist. Rich chromaticism coupled with a strong feeling for material texture were particularly prominent on portraits, landscapes and still life. Režek’s commitment to regional iconography of the impoverished ambient of Zagorje and his highly cultivated style, extremely simple and genuine representation of everyday poverty of village life or life in urban outskirts are presented in his lesser known work Still Life. Significantly with a hand of a true master of brush he painted bare table with two empty glasses and half full bread basket. Everything presented in the paintings is classically balanced and almost hipper-realistic. By restrained art speech and selection of motives he declared his human relationship toward reality –artistic constant – what really brought him closer to his personal ideal. Režek’s artistic observation will be in motion for a long time between his native Varaždin, Zagreb’s intimate atmosphere and certain cosmopolitanism which will also be bursting out from the pages of his satiric illustrations. And from the 1950’s he will be turning more to the motives of the Adriatic Coastline. He died in Zagreb on September 2,1979.