Ivan Mestrovic (1883-1962)
Ivan Mestrovic is Croatia's most famous sculptor and some say he is the greatest sculptor of religious art since the Renaissance. Mestrovic was born in 1883 to a peasant family in Vrpolje and spent most of his childhood in Otavice, a tiny, impoverished village in the rocky, mountainous interior of Dalmatia. When he was 16, Mestrovic was apprenticed to a stonecutter in Split where he developed his skill by spending his free time reproducing the city's Greek and Roman works of art. After just 9 months in Split, a wealthy Viennese patron who recognized his unique talent sponsored him for a place at the Academy of Fine Arts in the Austrian capital. It was there that Mestrovic's genius began to shine. In Vienna, Mestrovic met the great French sculptor Auguste Rodin, who encouraged him to broaden his artistic vision through travel and who became a strong influence on the young artist. Mestrovic took Rodin's advice and spent time working in Paris, Belgrade, and eventually Rome, where he won a first prize for sculpture at the World Exhibition of 1911. In the early 1920s, Mestrovic settled in Zagreb, where he transformed a 17th-century house (Mestrovic Atelier) into his home and studio. In 1942, Mestrovic moved to Rome, and the next year he left for Switzerland. After World War II, he left in 1947 for America and New York where he became a professor of sculpture at Syracuse University. In 1955 he moved to a similar position at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, where he lived until his death in 1962. Throughout his career, Mestrovic was a prolific artist. His works are on display in museums, public places (including Chicago's Grant Park), and at Notre Dame. He is the first sculptor ever honored with a one-man show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Heart of the Matter
The shiny red hearts on display in nearly every Zagreb souvenir shop are actually licitar, honey-dough similar to gingerbread that is shaped in wooden molds, hardened, and coated with edible red lacquer and decorated with flowers, swirls, and other trim. The colorful hearts traditionally were used as love tokens by young men, who gave them to their girlfriends as an expression of love. Today, the decorated cookies still are given as a sign of affection, but they also are given as special-occasion gifts or as remembrances. Personalized hearts sometimes are used as wedding favors, toys, and Christmas ornaments. Most recently, they have been used as hospitality tokens by some bureaus of Croatia's tourism board, which sometimes distributes them to visitors. The hearts have even been immortalized in a ballet, "Licitarsko Srce" ("Gingerbread Hearts"), by Croatian composer Kresimir Baranovic, which has been performed all over Europe. Today, licitar is made in many shapes besides hearts and rarely eaten but rather saved or displayed as instantly recognizable symbols of Croatia.
