Mato Celestin Medović

He received his first art training in Italy, and went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, where he began painting artistic impressions of historical events. Following graduation he decided to leave the church and pursue his painting career. Medović then moved to Zagreb and joined a group of artists led by Vlaho Bukovac, a renowned painter. His work from this period includes historical depictions at the building of the Croatian Institute of History. Since 1901 Medović increasingly began to spend time on his native Pelješac in southern Croatia, painting nature, still lifes, seascapes and landscapes in a style marked by his use of colour and light shadows.

Mato Celestin Medović studied at Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. The recorded working language is Croatian. The field of work recorded is painting. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are history and landscape. Work by Mato Celestin Medović is recorded in the collections of National Museum of Modern Art.

• Name — Mato Celestin Medović • Birth Name — Mato Medović • Born — 17 November 1857 • Birthplace — Kuna at Pelješac, Austrian Empire • Died — 20 January 1920 • Place of death — Sarajevo, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes • Field — Painting • Training — Academy of Fine Arts, Munich • Movement — Modern Art • Works — The Arrival of the Croats (Dolazak Hrvata)

• Illustration — Arrival of the Croats (Dolazak Hrvata) by Mato Celestin Medović Mato Medović was born on 17 November 1857 in Kuna on the Pelješac peninsula into a peasant family. Young Mato got his first education at a nearby Franciscan monastery dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto (Delorita). In 1868, at the age of 11 he joined the Franciscan seminary in Dubrovnik, where he took his vows in 1874, taking the name of Celestin. The artistic talent of the young monk was noticed by Abbot Portoguaro Bernardino, on a visit from Rome. So in 1880, Medović was placed in the monastery of St Isidoro in Rome, known for its Nazarene painters. He was assigned to Lodovico Seitz, an influential artist who painted the frescoes in the Cathedral of Đakovo. However, the rigid and outdated artistic style did not suit Medović, and he looked for a different teacher in Giuseppe Grandi, then in the private school of Antonio Ciseri in Florence. In 1886, the Franciscan order sent him back to Dubrovnik. However, at the urging of the painter Emil Jakob Schindler, he was sent to continue his studies at the Academy of Arts in Munich. There Medović studied historical genre paintings, particularly the work of Karl von Piloty. He composed large canvases of historical scenes, winning a silver medal in 1893 for his final diploma work "Bacchanal" (Bakanal), and successfully exhibited his work in several European cities. • Illustration — Council of Split, located at the Croatian Institute of History in Zagreb On his return to Dubrovnik in 1893, there seemed no possibility for further artistic progress. Dr Franjo Rački (a founder member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Dr Iso Kršnjav (head of the Department of Culture (odjela za kulturu)) invited him to Zagreb to join the group of artists around Vlaho Bukovac, a Dubrovnik artist who had recently left Paris and settled in Zagreb. So in 1895 Medović left the Franciscan order and set up a studio in Zagreb. During his stay there (1895–1907) he painted many religious works in northern Croatian churches (Križevci, Požega, Nova Gradiška) and historical compositions based on Croatian history, most notably those in the Golden Hall (Zlatne dvorane) of the Institute of History in Zagreb. Medović also painted a series of portraits of Zagreb people using fragmented lines, soft contours and vibrant colours. In 1898, Medović had a house and studio built in Kuna, and a villa on the coast at Crkvice. He began to spend increasing amounts of time there, painting nature. In 1901, he held a group exhibit with Oton Iveković, in which he presented his entire Zagreb works. Until 1907 Medović was kept busy with government works in Zagreb and exhibited with other Croatian artists in Budapest, Copenhagen, Paris, Prague, Belgrade, Sofia and Zagreb. After 1908, Medović gave up his Zagreb studio entirely and remained on the Pelješac peninsula, living alone and painting. His subjects were taken from the nature around him, still lifes of fruit and fish, seascapes, and landscapes, filled with colour, light and soft shadows. His seascapes are studies of light playing on the open sea, breaking waves or a moonlit night. After a few years Medović grew tired of the isolation from other artists, and for a short time worked in Vienna (1912–1914). In 1914 he held an exhibition, where he sold all his paintings. At the start of the First World War he again went back to Kuna where the harsh living conditions took their toll on his health. By the end of the war Medović was suffering from renal disease and in late December 1919 he sought help at a hospital in Sarajevo, but too late. He died on 20 January 1920, and was laid to rest in the cemetery in Kuna.

• Illustration — The Golden Hall of the Institute of History in Zagreb, with paintings by Mato Celestin Medović

• Illustration — "The Sacrifice of Isaac"

• 2001 Mato Celestin Medović: Works from the Gallery's permanent collection Gallery of Fine Arts, Split (Galerija Umjetnina Split) • 2007/2008 MATO CELESTIN MEDOVIĆ: An exhibition marking the 150th anniversary of his birth. From the holdings of the Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik

• 2009 Zagreb - Munich: Croatian Painting and the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, Art Pavilion Zagreb, Zagreb (Umjetnicki paviljon) • 2007 From the Gallery Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik • 2006 Selection from the Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik Collection, Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik • 1896 Millennial Exhibition in Budapest

• Mother (Portret Majka) 1894 • Old Fisherman (Stari ribar) • Portrait of an old man (Portret starca) • St. Bonaventura • Bacchanal (Bakanal) 1890

• Illustration — "The Coronation of Ladislas of Naples" • Split Parliament (Splitski sabor) • Arrival of the Croats (Dolazak Hrvata), • The Coronation of Ladislas of Naples (Krunjenje Ladislava Napuljskog) • Betrothal of King Zvonimir (Zaruke kralja Zvonimira) • The Srijem Martyrs (Srijemski mučenici) • St Jeronim 1901 • Madonna (Bogorodica) 1905 • St Francis • Portrait of Clotilde Guthardt • Portrait of middle-aged woman • Portrait of Archbishop Posilovic • Portrait of Pope Pius X

• Illustration — "Heather" (Vrijes) • Dead Calm Sea (Bonaca) • After Spring Rains (Poslije proljetne kiše) • Pelješac Korčula Canal(Pelješko Korčulanski Kanal) 1908-12 • Moonlight (Mjesečina) • Heather (Vrijes) 1911 • Landscape (Pejzaž) • Fields (Polje) • Heather (Vrijes) • Still Life (Mrtva Priroda) • Battle of Grobnik Plain (Bitka Na Grobničkom Polju)

• Modern Gallery, Zagreb • Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik • Gallery of Fine Arts, Split (Galerija Umjetnina Split)