CROATIA – FRANCE JOINT EDITION, Vase (Antonija Krasnik)

Vase, 1901 Production: Johann Loetz Witwe, Klostermühle, for E. Bakalowits & Sohne, Vienna Location: Museum of Arts and Crafts, 807 Antonija (Antoinette) Krasnik (Lovinac, 1874 – Zagreb, 1956) is one of the first authors from the turn on the 20th century who were professionally involved in design and decorative arts. After completing her studies and first art lessons in Zagreb, she went to Vienna where she studied in the class of renowned Koloman Moser at Kunstgewerbeschule. Following Vienna, she trained in Paris and exhibited at many decorative art shows in Vienna, Berlin, Munich, London, St. Louis, Torino, Paris and elsewhere. Her works stood out with their originality in terms of shape and superb quality of execution and were purchased for museum collections and published in the most important European art magazines, such as Art et décoration. From the time of her education, she was successful in various media, from painting and sculpting, to decorative shaping of items made of glass, metal, ceramics, furniture, jewellery, textiles, clothing and fashion accessories. Flora and fauna were an endless source of inspiration for ornaments that she blended with superbly shaped items. A characteristic example of refined aesthetics of shaping is a vase made of iridized transparent glass in blue-green shades with an applique of silver leafs in iris flower shapes on elongated intertwined thin stems, one of the favourite Art Nouveau motifs. The cone-shaped vase with broadened sides made by glassblowing that turn into rounded teardrop-shaped brackets was made in the Johann Loetz Witwe glass factory in the Czech Republic for the company Bakalowits & Sohne from Vienna. Proof of the success of the design is the fact that it was produced in as many as nine decor versions. Coincidentally, the works of Antonija Krasnik and Émile Gallé were exhibited at the same shows, including Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900. Even though their careers were very different, their inventiveness in terms of shapes and experimenting with materials makes them authentic representatives of modern design. Jasna Galjer Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb