Gojmir Anton Kos

G. A. Kos: Painting myself (1966) , oil on canvas (98,5 x 105,5 cm)
(Slovene Academy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubljana)

Gojmir Anton Kos was born on 24 januarz 1896 in Gorizia and died on 22 may 1970 in Ljubljana. He studied painting at the Akademie der bildneden Künste in Vienna (1915-18, under Professors R. Bacher und J. Schmidt). In the spring of 1919, after the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he attended the final, eighth semester in Zagreb. At that time he also passed an examination qualifying him as a professor of drawing. In 1923 he went to Berlin to further his studies, specialising mainly in the field of interior decoration under Prof. C. Krämer. In 1945 he was appointed full professor of painting and prorector (1945-48) and rector (1949-1951) of the newly established Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, where he taught until his retirement in 1962. From 1948 to the spring of 1949 he also assumed the duties of director of the Moderna galerija in Ljubljana. In 1949 he became a full member of the Slovene Academy of Science and Arts. He received numerous awards for his work, among others: First Prize for the public competition of historical paintings for the Provincial Government Palace in Ljubljana (1939) and the Preseren Award on two occasions (in 1947 and 1950). In 1950 he exhibited at the Venice Biennale. G. A. Kos painted figurative compositions, monumental scenes from Slovene History, landscapes, portraits and still lifes, in which he reached his peak as an artist.