This
exhibition follows Matej Sternen through his changing understanding of artistic
calling from painter-decorator via independent through "private"
artist, who in his late career limited his work to a few studio genres and
seldom exhibited while he secured his existence by restoration of artistic
heritage. His first experience of artistic creation is bound to his neighbour
Jožef Petkovšek, who returned from Paris in 1886. He lent Sternen Paris Salon
catalogues to copy from them and used the Alegories
and Emblems albums by Gerlach and Ilg, published 1882−1884, where he
focused on illustrations by Franz von Stuck. Between
1893 and 1896 he practised drawing at the Vienna art acadmey following the
principles of ideal beauty. In 1899 he entered the school of Anton Ažbe where
he mastered the broad Munich brushstroke and drawing form nature – from live
models. He spent winters from 1901 through 1907 in Munich and tried to exhibit
publically. He joined the endeavours of
Slovenian painters to organize artistic life in Ljubljana by adherence to the
artistic association Sava headed by
Rihard Jakopič. Their ways parted in bitter disagreement in 1910, when Sternen started
to experiment with printmaking techniques and engaged in restoration projects
of the imperial Office for protection of Cultural Monuments, which took most of
his time. The next year he produced a series of newfound landscapes, whereas
his most important production of ambitious nudes emerged in 1914 in Munich
extending through his conscription late in 1916.
After the
Great War Sternen exhibited sporadically only in group exhibitions, with an
exception of the 1927 exhibition of Slovenian Impressionists where he chose to
exhibit mainly his recent production to emphasize his distinction. At that
point he gave up ambitious salon formats and started to experiment with poses
of nudes on a smaller scale. After completion of ceiling murals in the
Franciscan church in Ljubljana in 1936, his public profile soared. He became
the portrait painter to the upper middle class to whose taste he adjusted his
late nudes painted again on a large scale.
The painting
of Matej Sternen is distinguished within the impressionist generation by his
understanding of tradition focusing on the alexandrine periods of the history
of Western painting. He constructed his identity through the lens of the late
nineteenth century art starting with the golden age of Venetian painting of
Titian and Veronese, early Baroque of Rubens and Rembrandt, eighteenth century
French painters Fragonard and Boucher, as well as Venetian Giambattista
Tiepolo. Among the Modernists he was closer to Degas, Rops and Toulouse-
Lautrec than Manet and the rest of the impressionists. He perceived this
tradition through the representatives of the Munich Secession and groups of
younger painters of the Dachau School, Die Scholle and the Liutpoldgruppe,
while later on he emphasised his alliance to the old masters. In contrast to
his boasting about the importance of drawing, he did not cultivate it as an
independent discipline. Drawing was the means for imitation of old masters and
preparation of painting by maintenance of professional routine. His experimentation
with certain printmaking techniques served the same purpose. The exhibition
consists of selections of paintings, drawings, prints and presentation of his
extraordinary restoration achievements.
Author of the exhibition
Andrej Smrekar
Authors of the conservation-restoration exhibitions
Gabrijela Kovačič, Celje Regional Museum
Ajda Mladenović, Institute for the Protecton of Cultural Heritage
of Slovenia, Restoration Centre
Mateja Neža Sitar, Institute for the Protecton of Cultural Heritage
of Slovenia, Maribor Regional Office
Project leader
Mateja Breščak
Project participants
Tina Buh, Nataša Ciber, Mateja Krapež, Kristina Preininger, Alenka
Simončič
Conservation and preparation of objects
Tina Buh, Barbara Dragan, Miha Pirnat, Andreja Ravnikar, Erica Sartori, Simona Škorja, Katja Tittl
Exhibition set-up and design
Ranko Novak
Works of art lent by
National Assembly
of the Republic of Slovenia
National Galery of Slovenia
Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana
Museum and Galleries of the City
of Ljubljana
private owners
Government of the Republic of Slovenia
The project was
supported by
The National Gallery of Slovenia is part of the
Impressionisms Routes, one of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe.
1 December 2022 – 9 April 2023
National
Gallery of Slovenia
Prešernova
24
1000
Ljubljana