Herman Gvardjančič

• Name — Herman Gvardjančič • Born — 21 October 1943 • Birthplace — Gorenja Vas–Reteče at Škofja Loka, Slovenia • Known for — painting, drawing • Training — Pedagogical Academy in Ljubljana (1963-64) Painting on the ALUO in Ljubljana (1964/65-1968), MA on the ALUO in Ljubljana(1970) • Notable Works — Hiša samomorilke Silve, 1983 B.N.,1985 Slovenski grb, 25.6.1991 • Awards — Prešeren Award Ljubljana 1981, Grohar award Škofja Loka 1988, Jakopič award Ljubljana 1990 • Website — https: hermangvardjancic.cf

Gvardjančič was born in Škofja Loka in Slovenia and was educated at the local primary school. After this he attended the Ljubljana School of Design and later continued painting at the Art Academy in Ljubljana. He finished his studies under Professor Maksim Sedej in 1968 and then specialised under Professor Zoran Didek in 1970. His studies brought him into contact with other famous Slovene painters including France Mihelič, Marij Pregelj and Gabrijel Stupica. After his graduation he continued his studies in Poland and Germany. From 1971 he worked as a teacher in a primary school until in 1987 he began work as a Professor at the Pedagogical Academy in Ljubljana. Since 1997 H. G. has worked as a professor of painting and drawing at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana. He continues to live in Škofja Loka, the town of his birth.

Throughout his life Gvardjančič has proved to be an important contributor to the field of art in all its manifestations. He has helped to decipher the problematic, multi-layered world of painting as it has evolved during his own creative life. His creations are always based on the subject rather than on the abstract. In his opus we recognise that he is a painter of culture and ethics of late modernism and, despite the widespread use of new media, he insists on the expressive power of traditional painting and drawing. He trusts the visual power of his work through which he expresses the existential validity of the subjective experiences of birth, life and death. He manages to capture this with a remarkable sense of balance, composition and integrity to which he also adds his subtle touch. The concluding thought is therefore that from H.G’s works there radiates a primal instinct of the mental state of the artist. His works are present in several collections in Slovenia and abroad (Karlovac, Sombor, Rijeka, Zagreb, Belgrade, Graz, Kunsan, Lisbon, Hiroshima, Tokyo, Vienna). For his work he received the Prešeren Foundation Award in 1981, the Grohar Award in 1988 and the Jakopič Award in 1990. In an interview (Art Words No. 81 - 82) H.G.said: »Being a painter is a way of life. A real artist, having reached his maturity, does not attempt to change that.«

• Illustration — Cumulus, 1973 • Illustration — Landscape, 1977 • Illustration — Landscape, 1979 • Illustration — Landscape, 1980 • Illustration — Flying Max, 1984 • Illustration — Reminiscence, 1985 • Illustration — Solea II, 1991 • Illustration — Landscape, 1997 • Illustration — Landscape, 2003 • Illustration — Dimming, 2006 • Illustration — • Illustration — Sigur Ros, 2009 • Illustration — Landscape, 2008 - 2013 • Illustration — Landscape, 2013

• 1981, Ljubljana, Mala Galerija • 1985, Ljubljana, Equrna Gallery • 1988, Ljubljana, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, retrospective exhibition • 1998, Ljubljana, Tivoli Castle, Ljubljana/MGLC • 2008, Ljubljana, Ljubljana city gallery, Tivoli castle, Ljubljana/MGLC, Celje Gallery of Contemporary Art

• 1975, Edinburgh, The Richard Demarco Gallery, aSPECT • 1976, Venice, Venice Biennale • 1991, Siegen, Stadtische Galerie Haus Seel, Kunst Evropa • 2002, Belgrade, Museum of Contemporary Art (Belgrade), Yugoslavias art space 1990–1991 • 2003, Ljubljana, Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, Do roba in naprej, Slovene art 1975–1985

Herman Gvardjančič is recorded with the occupation painter. Recorded as painter and artist.