(Bruck an der Mur 1865–1930 Zagreb)
“Jugovina”, c. 1924, signed M. Cl. Crnčić, oil on canvas, 81.4 x 91 cm, framed

Provenance:
European Private Collection since the 1930s.

A certificate issued by Dr. Petra Vugrinec, 17 September 2022, is available upon request.

Marine painter Menci Clement Crnčić (1865-1930) became an important figure in the 19th century Croatian painting scene. Crnčić studied painting, drawing etching and engraving both at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and at the Academy of Munich, developing a well-rounded technique, influenced from different styles. Crnčić was one of the first Croatian painters to abandon strictly linear styles and rather emphasize a play with colours and shades. He was awarded the 1896 Fuger gold medal and as a result joined the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Art. Along with fellow artist Bela Cikos-Sesija, he later opened the first private painting school in Zagreb which later became the city’s Fine Arts Academy.

Crnčić painted many land and seascapes of the Istrian peninsula and the Adriatic, combining his Germanic artistic education with his native Balkan region. At first glance, this work is a simple composition; the canvas is almost evenly split between sea and sky with varying hues of greys and blues. His work is characteristic of Realism of the Munich school, but his emphasis on light and shade also adds an impressionist quality. However, the large scale of the painting creates a window for the viewer, with a view onto the moving sea. While the texture of the sky remains smooth, its darkness and the agitation of the sea suggests an incoming storm. Crnčić’s thick impasto brushstrokes capture the movement of the waves in an almost sonorous manner, with seafoam forming as the crest of the wave merges into the through.