Review article
https://doi.org/10.21857/y7v64t4gky
THE MONUMENT TO VATROSLAV JAGIĆ IN VARAŽDIN AND SLOVENIAN SCULPTOR JANEZ WEISS
Ana Kaniški
Abstract
At the end of August 1923, shortly after the death of the scholar of Slavic philology
Vatroslav Jagić (Varaždin, July 6, 1838 – Vienna, August 5, 1923), the Varaždin
High School Extension, led by its member and then-secretary, professor Krešimir
Filić, initiated an action to erect a worthy monument in his memory. They commissioned
his cousin, the Croatian sculptor Rudolf Valdec (Krapina, March 8, 1872 – Zagreb,
February 1, 1929). In a letter dated July 31, 1924, Valdec informed his client he
had created a marble memorial plaque and two larger bronze plaques with a relief
bust of the Slavist. He had made a two-part iron mould for forging smaller bronze
plaques, a bronze memorial bust, and a plaster sketch for the monument that will be
placed in the southeast corner of the city park, a location he had previously agreed
to with his commissioner. In order to raise money for the monument, the Extension
started selling specially made postcards and smaller bronze plaques. Moreover, it
received voluntary gifts from various local societies and individuals. The monument
was not made due to political reasons, disagreements among societies, and a lack
of funds. A memorial plaque bearing the bronze professor's portrait was put on his
birth house and commemorated on November 15, 1925. In 1926, the Extension
passed on the remaining money and sculptural works to the Varaždin Museum Society.
Under Filić's leadership and on the eve of the centenary of the professor's birth,
the Museum Society will quickly address the issue of erecting the monument in the
intended place. Since Valdec had passed away, the creation of the monument, possibly
based on a tender, was entrusted to the young Slovenian Janez Weiss (Sveti Križ
near Ljubljana, January 31, 1915 – Slovenski Gradec, February 21, 1944) at the end
of his studies in Zagreb. In 1933, the eighteen-year-old Janez Weiss had enrolled in
sculpture studies with the sculptor Frano Kršinić. After completing eight semesters,
that is, 13 courses in sculpture, painting, applied art, and art history, he finished
his studies in the class of his professor, the sculptor Robert Frangeš-Mihanović, on June 21, 1937. By the time he received his diploma on July 13, 1938, he was already
commissioned with the creation of the monument to Jagić. While collecting
money for it, the Museum Society did not only rely on the received capital and
the favour and benevolence of the Varaždin City government, but it had to match
the same amount. Thus, it turned to the local banking institution and industries
for additional funding. Janez Weiss secured his commission with a smallish plaster
sketch. The coloured sketch depicts a free-standing figure of a Slavist in stride,
with the right leg forward and the left backward, holding his left hand behind his
back and an open book in his right hand. Two recently found photographs depict
a plaster model of the monument in an interior. While sculpting the model, Weiss
reversed the position of the linguist's hands: although the contrapposto was lost, a
more harmonious composition was obtained with his left hand holding a book and
right down his back. The sculptor was a stellar portraitist; he realistically depicted
the professor's facial traits with a distinctive moustache, sideburns, and beard on
both the model and the bronze. According to the dated documents, Weiss made
the model by August 20, 1938, and cast the bronze in the Art Foundry of the Academy
of Fine Arts in Zagreb by September 29 of the same year. The assembled
monument with a bronze sculpture on a stone base was ceremonially unveiled
on October 16, 1938, under the century-old linden trees in the city promenade.
When modelling the sculpture, it is possible the young artist found his inspiration
in the works of his teacher, Kršinić. After graduating, Weiss returned to Ljubljana
to continue to work at the Kunovar stonemasonry. In his short artistic career,
he influenced Slovenian artists. It seems his work colleague Boris Kalin repeated
Weiss' static figure holding a book in his left arm while making a bronze memorial
bust to Primož Trubar (1950) in Celje. The sculptor Ferenc Kiràly modelled his memorial
bust of a Slovenian protestant (2008) in Lendava in almost the same manner.
Thanks to all the fifteen-year efforts made by Varaždin individuals, societies,
industries, and city and state governments, the city of Varaždin today possesses
a noteworthy piece of art. Apart from embodying the memory of Jagić's life and
unparalleled work, the bronze represents the greatest sculptural work by Janez
Weiss, who left his mark on Croatian and Slovenian art.
Keywords
Vatroslav Jagić; Krešimir Filić; Varaždin High School Extension; Rudolf Valdec; Varaždin Museum Society; Janez Weiss; Frane Kršinić; Boris Kalin; Ferenc Kiràly; Primož Trubar; monument; plaster sketch; plaster model; bronze sculpture; city park.
Hrčak ID:
329503
URI
Publication date:
31.12.2024.
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