Collection of Works by Božidar Jakac

The Collection of Works by Božidar Jakac (1899–1989), painter, printmaker, art teacher and academician, includes 828 works that the artist donated to his native Novo Mesto. In chronological terms this rich collection covers works from 1910 (or 1911), the artist’s earliest self-taught beginnings and his first, more serious efforts while a pupil at the Realgymnasium in Idrija; juvenile works created in Austrian Styria and Friuli, where he was compelled to wear the uniform of the Dual Monarchy during the First World War; works created during his time as a student in Prague, where he proved himself to be an extraordinarily gifted draughtsman and printmaker; portraits of the artist’s family and friends and prominent figures from the world of culture and art in Slovenia; poetic motifs from the Dolenjska landscape; works offering an insight into the artist’s travels around Slovenia, Europe and other continents; and finally, works from the artist’s mature and late periods. This is just a sample of Jakac’s oeuvre, since he was Slovenia’s most prolific artist and the exhibition space is too small to allow us to present everything he created.

The Young Božidar Jakac exhibition, which presents two periods in the artist’s life (from 1910 or 1911 to 1923), the period before he began his artistic studies and the period he spent studying at the academy in Prague, is the first presentation of this type in the series of exhibitions that we intend in the future to present to the public at Jakčev Dom, and thus, via a series of self-contained thematic units, present the rich creative heritage of our greatest artist.

Božidar Jakac:
Self-portrait,
oil, 1928

Božidar Jakac:
Novo mesto,
pastel, 1973

Božidar Jakac:
View of Kandija,
oil, 1925