Josip Seissel

Josip Seissel studied at Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. The recorded working language is Croatian. The field of work recorded is painting. Ljubomir Micić is recorded as an influence. Works named in the authority record are Pafama. Work by Josip Seissel is recorded in the collections of Croatian Museum of Contemporary Art.

• Name — Josip Seissel (Jo Klek) • Born — 10 January 1904 • Birthplace — Krapina, Austria-Hungary (today's Croatia) • Died — 19 February 1987 • Place of death — Zagreb, Yugoslavia (today's Croatia) • Known for — painting, graphic art • Training — Academy of Fine Arts, Munich • Movement — surrealism, constructivism • Notable Works — Pafama

Josip Seissel was born on January 10, 1904, in Krapina, then in Austria-Hungary, now Croatia. Under the name Jo Klek, Seissel was a major contributor to the avant-garde Zenit movement between 1922 and 1925. From his youth, Seissel had been interested in the theatre. He began as a self-taught artist creating drawings, temperas, watercolours and theatrical designs for Zenit productions, including set designs, costumes and posters. From 1921 he began using the pseudonyms Jo Klek and Josip Klek for his artwork. In 1922 he was one of the founders of the group Traveler (Traveleri). He represented Zenit at international exhibitions in the 1920s (Belgrade, Bucharest, and Moscow), Seissel studied at the Technical Faculty in Zagreb under H. Ehrlich, earning a degree in architecture in 1929. He worked at the Department for the Regulation of Zagreb (Odsjeku za regulaciju grada Zagreba), and later became the director of the School of Applied Arts (Obrtne škole). Following the Second World War, he worked at the Ministry of Construction (Ministarstvu građevina), and from 1965 was a professor at the Faculty of Architecture at Zagreb University. In 1937 he received the Grand Prix and the Order of the Legion of Honor from the French government for designing the Yugoslav pavilion for the World Exhibition in Paris. In 1962 Seissel became a full member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1969, he received the Vladimir Nazor Award for lifetime achievement in architecture. Josip Seissel died on February 19, 1987, in Zagreb.

Works include • Zenit magazine artwork (1922–25) • Zenit theatre set designs, costumes, posters (1922–25) • 3C i tričarije • Self Portrait, 1918 • Pafama, collage, 1922 • Balkanac calm, 1922 • Rooster on the Roof, 1922 • Ex Libris Plavsic, 1922 • Wine shops 1924 • Travelling city, urban planning drawing 1932

During his lifetime, he exhibited his work in solo and group shows, most notably during the 1920s with the Zenit group.

Recent exhibitions of his work include: • 1997 Josip Seissel: Nadrealističko razdoblje [J.S.: The Surrealist Period] Visual Artists' Centre (HDLU) in Zagreb and at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb

• 2007 Avangardne tendencije u Hrvatskoj – Galerija Klovićevi dvori, Zagreb

His work can be found in the following public collections • Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, Croatia