Božidar Jakac Biography

Bozidar Jakac: Slovenia’s most famous artist of the twentieth century. He was born in Novo Mesto, Austria in 1899 and died in Yugoslavia in 1989. Bozidar Jakac first studied art at the Academy of Prague from 1919 to 1923. He then completed his education in both Paris and Berlin. From the beginning of his career, Jakac devoted as much time to the arts of etching and the woodcut as to painting. During the 1930’s his work received international attention and he traveled widely, including lengthy trips to the United States and Tunisia. In Slovenia, Jakac was one of the major forces in founding the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts, becoming both the Professor of Graphic Arts and the first Chancellor of the University. In 1974 the Bozidar Jakac Museum was opened in Kostanjevica, thus providing a permanent location for the important etchings, woodcuts and paintings of this great artist. Jakac’s early art is notable for its strong expressionistic tendencies. At first influenced by the art of Edward Munch, Jakac’s initial canvases and prints displayed highly charged imagery. By the end of the Second World War, however, his art developed both a more realistic and lyrical tone. These elements appear in this beautiful landscape etching where the Yugoslavian countryside, the canals, houses and people are all described with both simplicity and grace.