Education
At the end of World War I Kreković went to Vienna to study, although he eventually completed his studies in Paris.
At the end of World War I Kreković went to Vienna to study, although he eventually completed his studies in Paris.
Later in life he became known for his fascination with Incan art, and spent a number of years living in Peru. From 1960 on, he resided in Palma de Mallorca, Spain, where he died in 1985. Mallorca has a museum named after him and devoted predominantly to his art
Kreković is believed to have been born in the village of Koprivna near Modriča, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Austria-Hungary, to a family originally from the region of Lika (modern-day Croatia).
His first public exhibition was in 1925 in the Lounge des Artistes Français. During this time Kreković studied many aspects of the Incan civilisation, and often travelled in the Andes looking for indigenous subjects to paint.
lieutenant impregnates all his art, and it impregnates it with extraordinary creativity and constructive character."
He spent World World War II in Zagreb. After the war he was tried by the communist Yugoslavian government, along with Lovro von Matačić and Tin Ujević, for his painting of Croatian leader Ante Pavelić.
In 1955 the Peruvian Government sponsored an exhibit of Kreković"s Incan-inspired ethnographic art throughout the United States.
On this tour Kreković insisted on being characterised as a "Croatian-born Peruvian artist" which resulted in protests from the embassy of Yugoslavia. The Kreković Museum was officially opened in 1981 by Queen Sophia of Spain. Kreković died in his home in Mallorca in 1985.
In addition to his extensive portrayal of Peruvian and Incan subjects, Kreković painted portraits of many ministers, statesmen, and outstanding persons, including:
Mahatma Gandhi (1931)
Queen Mary (in 1938.
Portrait kept in Buckingham palace)
Royal Family of Spain (King Juan Carlos and Queen Sophia)
Royal Family of Sweden (in 1948)
Queen Marie of Romania.
In 1928 he was made a member of the French Society of Visual Arts and awarded the gold medal in the Bordeaux exhibition of international art He travelled back to Europe on several occasions during this period, and at various stages was commissioned to paint portraits of the Queen Consort, Queen Elizabeth and a number of other members of European royal houses.