Rihard Jakopic:
Memories
(presentation 9 x 14 cm)
. . . In spite of the numerous recognitions accorded to him, Rihard Jakopic (Ljubljana, April 4, 1869 - April 21, 1943) waged a lifelong struggle to ensure at least a reasonably decent existence, for he had invested all his means in his own work . . .
. . . He wrote memoirs, opened exhibitions for younger artists, publicly campaigned for moral and financial support for Slovene art, gave lectures, took part in interviews, etc. At this time, his personal image was also being formed: he had a bushy black beard, later gray, and intense facial traits emphasized by a penetrating gaze; in the self-portraits and the photographs he appears as the Michaelangelo archetype of the artist who, in the demeanour of the ethical idealist, attentitively analyses the moral, intellectual and artistic questions of the age. During his later years, his pantheistic humanism was complemented by a still darker eschatological note and a deeper religious spirituality, which can be traced in his many records and memoirs.
Rihard Jakopic:
At the Lamp (presentation 11 x 14 cm)
Jakopic was distinguished by his great personal benevolence, and by his warm consideration for people, regardless of their social or intellectual standing. To the very end of his life, he remained an admirer of nature - as is characteristic of an impressionist - yet not just in moments of sublime experiences and visions, but also in the miniature, seemingly unimportant details, particulary in the series of late floral still-lifes.
Fragment from the Encyclopedia of Slovenia, Book 4, Page 253 (T.Br.)
Madinska knjiga, Ljubljana 1990
