one of the wooden sculptures in Forma Viva, outside the Bozidar Jakac Art Museum
The Bozidar Jakac Art Museum is housed in a former monastery, established in the 13th C, extensively rebuilt to its present form in the 18th C, but then dissolved in 1786, church furnishings auctioned off and church desacralized. The building was variously used afterwards, but fell in disrepair, until restoration began again in 1957. Now a national monument, it is surrounded by a huge sculpture garden, which we explored first, as the rain had temporarily reduced to a drizzle. The grass of the garden was equally wet, though, and my shoes not waterproof.
the monastery that houses the Bozidar Jakac Art Museum, and the Forma Viva sculpture garden in front
more sculptures in front of the building
Ryszard Litwiniuk (Poland) – Transition (2017)
one of the sculptures of which I haven’t found the name and artist
this is one of the oldest remaining sculptures, ‘Sun and Snake’ from 1968, by Bogosav Zirkovic (Serbia) –
another old one: Untitled (1972), from Mirislav Sutej (Hungary)
this is one of the old sculptures, that they just allow to rot away
The Garden
The sculpture garden is part of an initiative called Forma Viva, which started in the 1960s and is now being held every two years. Artists from all over the world are being invited to Slovenia to create their contributing works in one month, on site. There are four locations, with a focus on different material: one near Portoroz produces exclusively art in stone, in a place called Ravne it is metal, in Maribor concrete (I would love to see this, too!), and here in Kostanjevica na Krki the material is oak wood.
So for the first hour, or so, we waded through the wet grass, from the one extravagant wooden sculpture to the next. I love sculpture gardens, and this one certainly didn’t disappoint.
some rare colour in the sculpture garden
Alem Korkut (Hungary) – Moonbeams (2023)
Reinhold Neururer (Austria) – Protective Fence for the Nature (2011)
Liliya Pobornikova (Bulgaria) – Flowers (2013)
and one of the flowers, in more detail; note the purple paint inside
and admittedly, not every sculpture is equally mind-blowing….
Gao Meng (China) – Pig and House (2017)
Joze Marinc’ painting ‘The Plowman’ (1986), mixed media on canvas
The Museum
The monastery itself houses the Bozidar Jakac Art Museum, dedicated to Slovenian artists. The set up is quite nice, with individual artists having been given a number of rooms, in which their work, and its development over time, is being showcased. Inevitably, some artists appeal more to us than others – I was especially impressed by the works of Nande Vidmar and Zoran Didek -, but overall we got a really nice overview of Slovenian modern and contemporary art of 20th and 21st century. But be prepared: the monastery is huge, and so is the museum’s collection. And that after an hour, or so, of sculpture garden!
and to show the versatility of Nande Vidmar: ‘Untitled’ (ca 1960), ink and gouache on paper
‘Landscape with Cypresses’, oil on canvas, by Joze Gorjub (early 20th C)
one of my favourites in the museum, Nande Vidmar: ‘Abandoned Wall’ (1971), tempera and oil on cardboard
Tone Kralj made this work, The Great Wedding (1957), woodcut
and another Nande Vidmar: ‘Peasant Wagon’ (ca 1955), mixed techniques on paper
and Bogdan Borcic created ‘Bridge’ (1969)
an overview of exhibition rooms of France Kralj, with sculptures and paintings and etchings
a lovely sculpture by France Gorse
Janeza Boljke: ‘A Painter IV’ (1980), bronze
and this we have already seen in real life, ‘The Bridge of Kostanjevica’ (1965), oil on canvas, by another of my favourites, Zoran Didek
RSS – Posts
Beautiful museum and garden!