The Earth Group () was a Croatian arts collective active 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 ...

from 1929 to 1935, when it was banned. The group aimed to defend their artistic independence against foreign influences such as

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

and ''

art for art's sake Art for art's sake—the usual English rendering of (), a French slogan from the latter half of the 19th century—is a phrase that expresses the philosophy that 'true' art is utterly independent of all social values and utilitarian functions, b ...

''. They maintained that art should mirror the social milieu from which it springs and should meet contemporary needs, hence their emphasis on the popularization of art, both at home and abroad. In spite of its ideologically heterogeneous membership, the group was considered

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

in orientation but never espoused socialist realism.

Members and guests

*Founding members of the group: sculptors Antun Augustinčić and Frano Kršinić; painters Vinko Grdan,

Krsto Hegedušić Krsto Hegedušić (26 November 1901 – 7 April 1975) was a Croatian painter, illustrator and theater designer. His most famous paintings depict the harsh life of the Croatian peasantry in the manner of naive art. He was one of the founders of ...

, Leo Junek, Omer Mujadžić, Oton Postružnik, Kamilo Ružička and

Ivan Tabaković Ivan Tabaković (10 December 1898, Arad – 27 June 1977, Belgrade) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Serbian painter. Biography Tabaković was born in Arad, then part of the Habsburg Empire, in 1898, a son of noted Serbian architect Milan T ...

; and the architect Drago Ibler (who also served as the group's chairman). *Members who later joined the group: Marijan Detoni, Ivan Generalić, Željko Hegedušić, Fedor Vaić, Vilim Svečnjak,

Edo Kovačević Edo Kovačević (16 November 1906 – 15 March 1993) was a Croatian artist, best known for his colourful landscapes and views of suburban Zagreb. He worked mainly in oils and pastels, using subtle colour harmonies and lively brush strokes to bring ...

, Branka Hegedušić-Frangeš, Ernest Tomašević, Lavoslav Horvat, Stjepan Planić and Mladen Kauzlarić. *Guest artists whose works were shown at some of the group's exhibitions:

Otti Berger Otti Berger (Otilija Ester Berger) (4 October 1898, in present-day Zmajevac, Zmajevac, Croatia - 3 May 1944) was a Croatian student and later teacher at the Bauhaus, where she was a Textile arts, textile artist and Weaving, weaver. She was murde ...

, Petar Franjić, Drago Galić, Stjepan Gomboš, Aleksander Mikloš, Franjo Mraz, Josip Pičman, Danilo Raušević, Petar Smajić, and Zdenko Strižić.

Exhibitions

* 1st exhibition (as ''Udruženje umjetnika Zemlja'') at ''Salon Ulrich'' in Zagreb, 1929 * 2nd exhibition (as ''L'Association artistique "Zemlja"'') at ''Gelerie Billiet'' in Paris, 1931 * 3rd exhibition (as ''Udruženje umjetnika Zemlja'') at '' Umjetnički paviljon'' in Zagreb, 1932 * 4th exhibition (as ''Udruženje umjetnika Zemlja'') at ''Umjetnički paviljon'' in Zagreb, 1934 * 5th exhibition (as ''Družestvo Zemlja - Zagreb'') at ''Galerija Preslav'' in

Sofia Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...

, 1934 * 6th exhibition (as ''Udruženje umjetnika Zemlja'') at ''Umjetnički paviljon Cvijete Zuzorić'' in

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 ...

, 1935

References

Literature

*{{cite book , last=Angeli Radovani , first=Kosta , title=6. zagrebački salon : kritička retrospektiva "zemlja" : slikarstvo, grafika, crtež, kiparstvo, arhitektura : Umjetnički paviljon, Zagreb, 8. svibnja-8. lipnja 1971., publisher=

Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts The Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (; , HAZU) is the national academy of Croatia. HAZU was founded under the patronage of the Croatian bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer under the name Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (, JAZU) since its ...

Modern Gallery , date=1971 , oclc=500719470 , language=hr Croatian art 1930s in Croatia 20th century in Zagreb Croatian artist groups and collectives