Božidar Rašica (28 December 1912 – 13 September 1992) was an architect, scenographer and painter.

Career

Rašica was born in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

, to

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

parents. He studied in Rome,

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, Warsaw and finally Zagreb, where he graduated in 1942. He was one of the founding members of the Exat 51 group whose active members between 1950 and 1956 were architects Bernardo Bernardi, Zdravko Bregovac,

Vjenceslav Richter Vjenceslav Richter (; 8 April 1917 – 2 December 2002) was a Croatian architect. He was also known for his work in the fields of urbanism, sculpture, graphic arts, painting, and stage design. Career In 1949, Richter graduated at the Department ...

and Vladimir Zaharović, and painters Vlado Kristl, Ivan Picelj and Aleksandar Srnec. From 1966 he worked as a professor at the Faculty of Architecture in Zagreb. He designed numerous residential, pavilion and school buildings. Of particular interest are the pavilions at the Zagreb International Fair and residential and business buildings in Zagreb (Savska and Vukovarska Street). He designed the

Zagreb Hippodrome Zagreb Hippodrome () is a horse racing venue in Zagreb, Croatia. It was built from 1947 to 1950, with a design based on the Longchamp Racecourse in Paris. It is located in the neighbourhood of Kajzerica, on the southern bank of the Sava river, ...

which was built between 1947 and 1950. He renovated the buildings of the Gavella Theatre, the Revlin fortress and the

Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb The Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb (), commonly referred to as (), is a theatre, opera and ballet house located in Zagreb. Overview The theatre evolved out of the first city theatre opened in 1834, housed in the present-day Old City Hal ...

and in Split. He received an international architectural award in 1965 for the German Democratic Republic pavilion project. At the beginning of his painting career he used intimate and colouristic expression. In the 1950s he turned to pure abstract art (the Exat 51 period). At the beginning of the 1970s he returned to figurative art. The subjects of Rašica's paintings were often the seaside settings and landscapes that surrounded him: Zagreb, Dubrovnik and its surrounding islands, Paris and the Istrian landscapes and townscapes for example,

Vrsar Vrsar (Italian and Venetian: Orsera) is a seaside village and a municipality in Istria, west Croatia, located 9 kilometers south of Poreč. The historical center is located on top of a hill, including the St. Martin parish church and the 40-mete ...

. He designed around 50 stage sets for theatre shows, and costumes for Croatian and international theatres, including Covent Garden in London, the Rockefeller Centre in New York and Schiller Theatre in Berlin. He participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions and projects in Croatia and abroad, and received several national and international honours and awards: for example, he was the recipient of the

Vladimir Nazor Award The Vladimir Nazor Award () is a Croatian prize for arts and culture established in 1959, and awarded every year by the country's Ministry of Culture. Named after the writer Vladimir Nazor (1876–1949), the prize is awarded to Croatian artists ...

for architecture and urbanism in 1978.Ministry of Culture Website
link to the recipients of the Vladimir Nazor Life Achievement Award. He died 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, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

The Božidar Rašica Collection

The Božidar Rašica Collection was founded in 2004 as part of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka thanks to the donation by the artist's wife, Vera Marsić.

Published works on Božidar Rašica

* Maković, Zvonko, Marsić, Vera & Selem, Petar, Božidar Rašica, (

Školska knjiga Školska knjiga (lit. ''Schoolbook'', ) is one of the largest publishing companies in Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It ...

, Zagreb, 2009).

References

External links

Božidar Rašica Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rasica, Bozidar 1912 births 1992 deaths Architects from Ljubljana Croatian contemporary artists Vladimir Nazor Award winners Burials at Mirogoj Cemetery University of Zagreb alumni 20th-century Croatian painters Croatian male painters 20th-century Croatian architects Slovenian people of Serbian descent Serbs of Croatia Artists from Ljubljana 20th-century Croatian male artists