Vlaho Bukovac (1855 – 1922) was one of the most significant Croatian painters, the originator and main representative of Croatian modernity.
The path of Vlaho Bukovac to become one of the most prominent Croatian painters was rather difficult. At an early age, he went overseas, to the USA, with his uncle. After his uncle suddenly died, Vlaho was put in the reform school for juvenile, where he was left all alone. After finishing school, he returned home and at the age of 15, he embarked on his first voyage as a sailor.
Later he went from Peru to San Franscisco searching for better life, and back home. His first distinguished works were done while he was in the USA for the second time. Finally, a stroke of luck hit him – one of the most significant Croatian personalities of the 19thc., bishop Strossmayer, saw his talent and sent him to Paris to study art, where Bukovac established himself as a renowned painter.
Vlaho Bukovac was able to convey so clearly the atmosphere of the moment, his paintings are lively, bursting with energy.
Bukovac created in Zagreb, Prague and Paris, and in England as well. The last, almost 20, years of his life, he spent in Prague as the academy professor, longing for his hometown by the end of his life.
He left behind an oeuvre of four hundred portraits and over a hundred other paintings. His work is characterized by depicting family portraits, cycles of acts and the genre of scenes, including sacred themes sometimes.
One of his great compositions is the Croatian national revival which found its place on the curtain of the Croatian National Theatre, showing a group of distinguished Croatian personalities.