Vjekoslav Karas (19 May 1821 - 5 July 1858) was a Croatian painter, considered a pioneer of a new era of Croatian painting and art in general.

Life

Born in

Karlovac Karlovac () is a city in central Croatia. In the 2021 census, its population was 49,377. Karlovac is the administrative centre of Karlovac County. The city is located southwest of Zagreb and northeast of Rijeka, and is connected to them via 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 ...

, Karas was sent to be educated in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in 1838. While in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, he drew inspiration from

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

and religious themes, painting ''Mother with Moses on the river bank''. While in Italy he developed a love for music and learned to play the

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

and the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

while composing songs in both Italian and Croatian. He began focusing his craft on portraits, painting ''Roman woman with a lute'' and ''Roman commoner'' before returning to Karlovac in 1848. Upon his return, he continued painting portraits and began painting local country life and local folk. He moved to

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 ...

and began teaching. From 1851-18522 he traveled to

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

where he painted a portrait of Ottoman field marshal and governor Omer-paša Latas and his daughter. Karas suffered periodically from depression and had even attempted suicide. He briefly stayed with

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Josip Juraj Strossmayer Josip Juraj Strossmayer, also Štrosmajer (; ; 4 February 1815 – 8 April 1905) was a Croatian prelate of the Catholic Church, politician and benefactor (law), benefactor. Between 1849 and his death, he served as the Bishop of Đakovo, Bishop ...

Đakovo Đakovo (; , , sr-Cyrl, Ђаково) is a town in the region of Slavonia, Croatia. Đakovo is the centre of the fertile and rich Đakovo region ( ). Etymology The etymology of the name is the (diákos) in Slavic form đak (pupil). The Hungar ...

, but left soon after his suicide attempt. Still suffering from depression and living in poverty, Karas committed suicide by drowning in the

Korana The Korana is a river in central Croatia and west Bosnia and Herzegovina. The river has a total length of and watershed area of . The river's name is derived from Proto-Indo-European ''*karr-'' 'rock'. It was recorded in the 13th century as ''Co ...

river in his native

Gallery

File:Young-woman-with-a-mandolin-vekoslav-karas.jpg, ''Roman woman with a lute'' Image:Majka izlaze Mojsija na obalu rijeke.jpg, ''Mother with Moses on the river bank'' File:Dječak.jpg, ''Child'' File:Portret Josefine Barac - Bernardic.jpg, Portrait of Josefine Barac File:Misko kresic.jpg, Portrait of Miško Krešić File:Mrs Kresic Vjekoslav Karas.jpg, Portrait of Ana Krešić

References

Sources

External links

KARAS, Vjekoslav
at lzmk.hr

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karas, Vjekoslav 1821 births 1858 deaths People from Karlovac Suicides by drowning Artists who died by suicide Painters from the Austrian Empire 1850s suicides