Background
Grohar was born in Spodnja Sorica, Upper Carniolan, Austria-Hungary (now Slovenia), on June 15, 1867. He was the son of Andrej and Neza Grohar. Ivan Grohar had a sister, Neza Grohar, and a brother, Janez Grohar.
1904
Ivan Grohar.
Profile photo of Ivan Grohar.
Grohar was born in Spodnja Sorica, Upper Carniolan, Austria-Hungary (now Slovenia), on June 15, 1867. He was the son of Andrej and Neza Grohar. Ivan Grohar had a sister, Neza Grohar, and a brother, Janez Grohar.
Ivan Grohar showed an interest in art from an early age. But he could not develop his talents because he was an orphan and lived in poverty. It was only in 1892 that Grohar got a chance to receive artistic training. This year he applied to the Carniolan Provincial Diet for financial assistance to study at the Graz school of painting, which he received.
In 1894 he applied for assistance to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. It was also approved, but despite his excellent exam result, Grohar was not accepted to the Academy because he had not completed his studies in Graz. So, he returned to his schooling in Graz and graduated from it at the end of 1894. Some years later, he attended Anton Ažbe’s school of art in Munich.
Anton Jamnik, a local vicar of Grohar's native village, sent Grohar to an exhibition in the nearby town of Škofja Loka in 1888; it enabled him to spend the summer working in the town of Kranj under the direction of the church painter Matija Bradaška.
He later travelled to Zagreb, where he worked in the studio of Spiridion Milanesi, until he was mobilized into the Austro-Hungarian Army. He didn't like the military life, so he deserted and fled to Italy. Left with nothing, he applied to the Austro-Hungarian consulate. In 1889 he was sentenced to short imprisonment and his military service was extended by one year.
In August 1896 Ivan Grohar opened his own atelier in Škofja Loka, Slovenia. By the end of the century, he had become a celebrated painter of religious images and received several prestigious commissions. During this period of time, to a large extent, he was influenced by Giovanni Segantini. Grohar started to embrace Impressionism when he came to Munich, where he was introduced to Anton Ažbe in 1899. There he also got acquainted with Matija Jama and Matej Sternen.
When he returned home, Grohar befriended impressionist painter Rihard Jakopič. In spite of Grohar's difficult social conditions, he exhibited intensively. For example, in autumn of 1900, he participated in the first Slovene Artists’ Exhibition, held by the Slovene Artistic Association (Slovensko umetniško društvo, SUD). He was appointed treasurer of the association. However, he illegally borrowed money from it, for which he was sentenced to three months in prison. After his release, he moved to Vienna.
In 1904 Slovene impressionists Matej Sternen, Matija Jama, Rihard Jakopič, and Ivan Grohar himself, exhibited their works in the Mietke gallery in Vienna as the artists’ club Sava. The show was a great success and several paintings were sold during it. A year later, Grohar exhibited in the Secession in Vienna and also in Berlin. In 1906 his artworks were displayed in London and Sophia, and in 1907 at the 1st exhibition of Slovenian artists in Trieste. A year later he held exhibitions in Warsaw and Krakow. In 1909 he participated in the exhibition, which celebrated 80 years of visual arts in Slovenia in the Jakopič Pavilion.
In spite of his frequent exhibitions, he always had financial difficulties. In 1911, due to politician Janez Evangelist Krek and painter Rihard Jakopič, the Sorica municipal council granted Ivan Grohar 2000 crowns for a study trip to Italy. Grohar went to Ljubljana in order to buy everything that he needed for the trip. However, the artist suffered from tuberculosis for a long time, and because of his deteriorating health Grohar was delivered to the state hospital in Ljubljana, where he died.
Ivan Grohar was an outstanding artist of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Along with Matej Sternen, Rihard Jakopič, and Matija Jama, he is considered one of the leading figures of Slovene impressionism of the end of the century.
Grohar left behind a series of inestimable artworks. Rihard Jakopič became an organizer of the sixth artists’ exhibition, which was dedicated to the memory of Ivan Grohar.
Among his most important works were: Brna (1899), Srce Jezusovo (1900), Rafolško polje (1903), Pomlad (1903), Macesen (1904), Sejalec (1907), Mož z vozom (1910), Črednik (1910), etc.
In 1926 a memorial exhibition was held in the artist's honour. He had a huge influence on later artists, while his artwork The Sower (Slovene: Sejalec) has become one of the most established and characteristic Slovene paintings, a particular symbol of the cultural transition of the Slovenes from rural to urban culture. This work is depicted on the Slovenian 5 cent euro coin.
Girl
Self-Portrait
Portrait of France Preseren
Larch
Zimsko jutro
Bundles
Brno
In the saddle
The autumn sun
Gerajte
Spring
Škofja Loka in the snow
Flowering apple tree
The Sower
The Water villa
Kamnitnik
Chapel
Willows along the stream
Črednik
Štemarski Garden
Potatoes
View from my window
The man with the cart
Pointillist landscape with horses and farmer
Rakers
A Hillock
Ivan Grohar was a member of Slovene Artistic Association (Slovensko umetniško društvo, SUD) and the Sava association.
Rihard Jakopič (1869-1943) was the leading Slovene Impressionist painter, as well as patron of arts and theoretician.
