Maksimilijan Vanka
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Maksimilijan "Maxo" Vanka (May 11, 1889 – February 2, 1963) was a
Croatian-American Croatian Americans or Croat Americans ( hr, Američki Hrvati) are Americans who have full or partial Croatian ancestry. In 2012, there were 414,714 American citizens of Croat or Croatian descent living in the United States as per revised 2010 Un ...
artist. He is best known for the series of murals he completed in 1937 and 1941 at St. Nicholas Croatian Church in
Millvale, Pennsylvania Millvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Allegheny River, opposite Pittsburgh. The borough is located off Pennsylvania Route 28. The population was 3,744 at the 2010 census. Geography Millvale is locate ...
.


Biography


Early life

Vanka was born in
Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
in 1889 as the illegitimate son of two
Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
noble families. To avoid a scandal, he was given to a peasant woman in the village of
Kupljenovo Kupljenovo is a naselje (settlement) in the town of Zaprešić, Zagreb County, Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our ...
who raised him for the first few years of his life. However, at the age of eight, his maternal grandfather learned of his existence and had him sent away to a castle where he had access to an upper-class education. He studied art under Bela Čikoš Sesija at the College of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb as well as in
Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...
with
Jean Delville Jean Delville (19 January 1867 – 19 January 1953) was a Belgian people, Belgian symbolist painter, author, poet, polemicist, teacher, and Theosophist. Delville was the leading exponent of the Belgian Idealist movement in art during the 1890s. ...
and
Constant Montald Constant Montald (Ghent, 4 December 1862 – Brussels, 5 March 1944) was a Belgian painter, muralist, sculptor, and teacher. Biography Early years In 1874, while receiving an education in decorative painting at the technical school of Ghent du ...
. During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, he served with the Belgian
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
, because he was a pacifist and would not serve in the regular army. After the war, he returned to teach at the College of Arts and Crafts, becoming a professor in 1923. He taught composition, drawing and fresco work. He was elected as a corresponding member of the
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...
in 1929. In 1931 he married an American, Margaret Stetten, whom he met while she was traveling in the Balkans with her parents. The couple moved to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
with their daughter Peggy in 1935.


Millvale murals

After moving to the United States, Vanka exhibited his work in New York and
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
, but without much financial success. In 1937, his friend
Louis Adamic Louis Adamic ( sl, Alojzij Adamič; March 23, 1898 – September 4, 1951) was a Slovene-American author and translator, mostly known for writing about and advocating for ethnic diversity of the United States. Background Louis Adamic ...
helped him get the commission for what would end up being his most important work, a series of murals for St. Nicholas Church, a Croatian parish in the Pittsburgh suburb of
Millvale, Pennsylvania Millvale is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Allegheny River, opposite Pittsburgh. The borough is located off Pennsylvania Route 28. The population was 3,744 at the 2010 census. Geography Millvale is locate ...
. Working in two campaigns, the first in 1937 and the second in 1941, Vanka painted a total of 25
fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
murals on the
apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
, walls, and ceiling of the church, covering a total area of approximately . Vanka painted the first set of murals from April to June, 1937, working every day until 2 or 3 in the morning. During this time, he became convinced that the church was haunted by a ghostly, black-robed figure, which Adamic later wrote about in a piece for ''
Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the U.S. (''Scientific American'' is older, b ...
'' titled ''The Millvale Apparition''. Nevertheless, he completed the murals on schedule. Although Vanka had "upset tradition in his introduction of labor scenes... within the sacred precincts of a church", the murals were met with acclaim from the press as well as church officials, and brought Vanka "significant if not prolonged fame." Vanka was invited back to complete a second set of murals which were dedicated on November 16, 1941. With
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
then raging in Europe, these murals featured much more overtly anti-war subject matter than the earlier ones. With the completion of the full set of murals, the ''
Pittsburgh Press ''The Pittsburgh Press'' (formerly ''The Pittsburg Press'' and originally ''The Evening Penny Press'') was a major afternoon daily newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1884 to 1992. At one time, the ''Press'' was the second larg ...
'' wrote that the artwork would "put
he church He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
near the top of the 'must list' of places to see in the Pittsburgh district", while the '' Sun-Telegraph'' wrote that Vanka and the parish priest, Albert Zagar, were "tossing the dogmas of religious art into the ash-can". Vanka himself described the murals as "my contribution to America". The subject matter of the murals includes a combination of traditional religious imagery and social themes related to the
Croatian American Croatian Americans or Croat Americans ( hr, Američki Hrvati) are Americans who have full or partial Croatian ancestry. In 2012, there were 414,714 American citizens of Croat or Croatian descent living in the United States as per revised 2010 Un ...
experience, such as war, injustice, and exploitation of workers. Vanka acknowledged traditional church decoration practices dating back to the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
in his placement of
Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religious contexts * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
,
Queen of Heaven Queen of Heaven ( la, Regina Caeli) is a title given to the Virgin Mary, by Christians mainly of the Catholic Church and, to a lesser extent, in Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and Eastern Orthodoxy. The Catholic teaching on this subject is expresse ...
, above the altar and depictions of the
Ascension of Jesus The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate la, ascensio Iesu, lit=ascent of Jesus) is the Christian teaching that Christ physically departed from Earth by rising to Heaven, in the presence of eleven of his apostles. According to the N ...
and the Four Evangelists on the ceiling. Elsewhere, Vanka included scenes from the
Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...
and
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
s, images of saints, and scenes depicting the Croatian immigrant experience such as ''Immigrant Mother Raises Her Sons for American Industry'', in which a group of Croatian women mourn over a young man killed in a mining accident. Other murals included allegorical depictions of injustice and inequality in America, such as ''The American Capitalist'', in which a wealthy businessman sits before an elaborate meal while ignoring a beggar, and ''Injustice'', which depicts a hooded figure wearing a gas mask and holding a scale in which a loaf of bread is outweighed by gold. Vanka, a committed pacifist, also included strong anti-war imagery, such as a crucified
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
being pierced by a
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
soldier's bayonet, and the Virgin Mary breaking a soldier's rifle.


Later career and death

Apart from the Millvale murals, the majority of Vanka's American work consisted of charcoal and pastel drawings, many of which depicted scenes and people he met during his travels, and oil paintings, which were predominantly landscapes and still lifes. Vanka mostly stopped exhibiting his work after
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, although he did hold a small show consisting of "fruits, flowers, and allegorical landscapes" at the Charles Barzansky gallery in New York in 1957. As a result of this limited exposure, most of his later work is not well known. In his later life, Vanka lived on a farm near Doylestown in
Bucks County, Pennsylvania Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the Englis ...
, and taught art appreciation at the National Agricultural College (now
Delaware Valley University Delaware Valley University (DelVal) is a private university Private universities and private colleges are institutions of higher education, not operated, owned, or institutionally funded by governments. They may (and often do) receive fro ...
). He died swimming off the coast of
Puerto Vallarta Puerto Vallarta ( or simply Vallarta) is a Mexican beach resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas in the Mexican state of Jalisco. Puerto Vallarta is the second largest urban agglomeration in the state after the Guadala ...
,
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, in 1963.


Legacy

In 1968, Vanka's widow and daughter donated 47 of his works to the
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Croatica, hr, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti, abbrev. HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under patronage of the Croatian bishop Jo ...
. This collection was initially displayed at Vanka's former summer home on the island of
Korčula Korčula (, it, Curzola) is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after K ...
, but was later moved to the
Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters The Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters ( hr, Strossmayerova galerija starih majstora) is a fine art museum in Zagreb, Croatia exhibiting the collection donated to the city by Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer in 1884. Located at 11 Nikola Šubić Zrin ...
in Zagreb. In 2022, it was announced that the collection would be restored and moved back to Vanka's villa on Korčula. Vanka and his work were largely forgotten in the United States after his death, but began to attract renewed attention since the 1990s. His first U.S. retrospective was held in 2001 at the
James A. Michener Art Museum The Michener Art Museum is a private, non-profit museum that is located in Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1988, it was named for the Pulitzer Prize–winning writer James A. Michener, a Doylestown resident. Situated within ...
in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. In 1991, the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka was founded with the mission to preserve and maintain the murals at St. Nicholas Church. SPMMMV is leading a campaign to clean, restore and light the murals, and offers docent-led tours every Saturday at 11:00 and 12:30. Vanka was mentioned in several writings by
Louis Adamic Louis Adamic ( sl, Alojzij Adamič; March 23, 1898 – September 4, 1951) was a Slovene-American author and translator, mostly known for writing about and advocating for ethnic diversity of the United States. Background Louis Adamic ...
and was the inspiration for his 1936 novel ''Cradle of Life: The Story of One Man's Beginnings''. The novel tells the story of a man named Rudo Stanka whose early life mirrors Vanka's own. Vanka was also memorialized in ''Gift to America'', a play written in 1981 by Professor David P. Demarest of
Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...
. On Easter Sunday 2012 the Pittsburgh-based band Action Camp released a short film setting one of their live performances of a musical suite against the Maxo Vanka murals that inspired it. This is one of only two performances of this work, that was performed in front of the Millvale Murals in the St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church. The band was commissioned to perform this suite in a collaboration called Hi-Rez.Seven: A suite based on the murals of Maxo Vanka
/ref> He educate and learned Ambroz Testen
watercolor painting Watercolor (American English American English, sometimes called United States English or U.S. English, is the set of variety (linguistics), varieties of the English language native to the United States. English is the Languages of the U ...
techniques and he left great influence on his painting later.www.akademija-art.hr
, ''Galery of Ambroz Testen'', accessdate 14 July 2016


References


External links


Rome Away from Home: Masterpiece in Pennsylvania by Elizabeth Lev

Off the Wall: The Murals of St. Nicholas -- Pittsburgh Quarterly

The Murals of Maxo Vanka

Pittsburgh Center for the Arts-Paintings and Works on Paper, Maxo Vanka

The Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka

Murals for the Ages -- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 4/25/2010

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette multi-media view of the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka



St Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church in Millvale


{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanka, Maxo 1889 births 1963 deaths Artists from Zagreb People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Yugoslav emigrants to the United States American people of Croatian descent Croatian painters Modern painters 20th-century American painters American male painters American muralists 20th-century American male artists