Background
Mr. Urbania was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on February 16, 1877. He was the son of Lucija, a housekeeper of sculptor Franz Ksaver. Joseph Urbania’s step-father was Josip Groselj.
Schillerplatz 3, 1010 Wien, Austria
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Mr. Urbania was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on February 16, 1877. He was the son of Lucija, a housekeeper of sculptor Franz Ksaver. Joseph Urbania’s step-father was Josip Groselj.
At the age of 21, Joseph Urbania joined the Slovenian Army. During his service he was commissioned by Captain H. Wesshuber, who asked him to carve a large figure titled "Homeland". In 1903 that piece was presented publicly in Ljubljana. When he completed his military service Urbania migrated to Austria, where he settled in Vienna to study and work. From 1906 to 1914 he attended the Heinrich Strehblow Akademie of Arts (later part of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna), studying under professor Hans Bitterlich.
In Vienna Urbania produced commissioned sculpture and paintings and frequently exhibited his work. He became publicly recognized for his numerous works. Joseph Urbania lived for a short period of time in Sarajevo in 1915-1918 where, together with a team of artists, he created a monument to WWI soldiers at the Kovaci Cemetery. After the war, he moved to Vienna where he lived and worked until his death in 1943.
Before World War I, Joseph Urbania started to produce his anti-war allegory works. Urbania's massive wood-carving "The Last Battle" (1905), a scene from the Russo-Japanese War, was donated to the Dežel Museum in 1906 and is today on display at the National Gallery of Slovenia. His other anti-war artworks included: "Hail Caesar" (1915), "After the Battle" (1908) and "Hannibal at the Gates" (1908).
In 1914 he started to create his gigantic plaster figures "Spring and Effort" (or "Water and Electricity") for the canceled Provincial House in Ljubljana (the plasters are currently disassembled in the National Gallery). However, he never finished it. His work "Passages of the Danube" was commissioned for the Michaelerplatz, in Vienna. It was removed during the Second World War and is now missing.
Joseph Urbania was an author of a number of monasteries and cathedrals. His two monumental plaster Reliefs, "Christ Healing" and "Daniel in the Lion’s Den", were later moved to the National Gallery of Slovenia in Ljubljana. His other major works are the following: "Christus Ascending", "Immaculata and Two Cherubim" (with sculptor Alojzij Progar), "St. Hubertus" and "St. Anthony and Child".
Joseph Urbania’s works stand out for the vividness of his figures, the stunning naturalism, the realism of the human body, plainly attractive faces, idealized leaves and branches, as well as exaggerated emotion, which can be found in all of his subsequent work.
Joseph Urbania was a devout Roman Catholic.
Quotes from others about the person
V. Levstik: "[Urbania's works] possess a happy warmth and homey simplicity, although the technique is well-schooled and immaculate."
F. Kozak: "Much of his [Urbania's] art is idealized and depicted in a kind of modern Baroque and poetic realism."
S. Mikuž: "He [Urbania] blushed between folk art and visions of great pathos, although his talent was not up to date."