| Josip Račić | |
| Birth Date: | 22 March 1885 |
| Birth Place: | Zagreb, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary |
| Death Place: | Paris, France |
| Nationality: | Croatian |
| Known For: | lithography, painting |
| Training: | Zagreb, Vienna, Munich, Paris |
| Movement: | realism, modern |
| Notable Works: | paintings in oils and watercolour, drawings |
Josip Račić (22 March 1885 – 19 June 1908) was a Croatian painter in the early 20th century. Although he died very young (he was only 23), and his work was mostly created during his student years, he is one of the best known modern Croatian painters. Today, Račić is regarded as one of the most important representatives of Croatian modern painting.
He studied lithography in Zagreb, and 1904 he went to Vienna and Munich, where he studied for a year at the school of the Slovene painter and teacher Anton Ažbe, followed by 3 years at the prestigious Academy of Arts. There, Račić, along with Oskar Herman, Vladimir Becić and Miroslav Kraljević formed the group known as the Croatian School. In 1908, he went to Paris where he painted a series of watercolors and oils depicting Parisian bridges, avenues and parks. He died of a gunshot wound in a Paris hotel room in June 1908, having committed suicide.
Josip Račić is one of the founders of modern Croatian art, the first to bring the concept of self-awareness and artistic integrity to his life and works, "pure painting", as he called it. A particular feature of his paintings is the strong dark realms of human spirituality. A retrospective of his work was held in the Modern Gallery in Zagreb and Dubrovnik in 2008–2009, to mark the 100th anniversary of the artist's death.
Josip Račić was born on 22 March 1885 in Horvati, near Zagreb (today the area of Knežija and Srednjaci). From 1892 to 1896 he went to the lower town general elementary school for boys in Samostanska ulica in Zagreb (today called the Josip Juraj Strossmayer Elementary School). His elementary school drawing master was the artist Oton Iveković. From 1896 to 1900 he attended the Royal High School in Zagreb, which is now the home of the Mimara Museum.
Račić learned the trade of lithography from 1900 to 1903 from Vladimir Rožankowsky, a master craftsman and owner of a lithographic studio in Zagreb. In 1904 he went to Munich to study at the School of Anton Ažbe who very quickly noticed Račić's talents and encouraged him to go on working and studying. In 1905, Račić was briefly employed as a lithographic draughtsman in the firm of Deutsches Verlag R. Bong und Comp in Berlin, but later the same year returned to Munich and entered the Academy of Fine Arts, where he studied for three years (1905–1908) under such teachers as Johann and Ludwig Herterich, and Hugo von Habermann. At that time Munich was a center of European art scene for realism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism and Jugendstil.
Josip Račić, along with Oskar Herman, Vladimir Becić and Miroslav Kraljević, formed the group then known as Die Kroatische Schule (The Croatian School). In Croatian art history they are referred to as the Munich Circle or the Munich Four. Their work drew much on the painting of Wilhelm Leibl and Édouard Manet (whose work they had the opportunity to see in Munich in 1907) and of older masters, the works of Frans Hals, Goya and Velázquez. Josip Račić's own work displayed strong tonal architectural qualities, with marked fullness of form and a profound psychology in the figures.
In 1908, Račić moved to Paris, where he copied works from the Louvre, painted parks, river bank and café scenes, portraits and self-portraits.
Josip Račić died of gunshot wounds in a Paris hotel room on 20 June 1908. He had committed suicide for reasons that still remain unclear.
Josip Račić is considered one of the greatest enigmas of Croatian modern art. From simple beginnings, he arrived in Munich, at that time one of the great creative centers of the European art scene, and found for himself inspiration in the paintings of Leibl, Manet and the Impressionists, and the tradition of Velázquez and Rembrandt. According to Miroslav Krleža, Račić was one of the first pioneers of the Munich Academy of art, his attitude is certainly important as the Leibl phenomenon in the history of German painting.
The early 20th century saw great changes in European art, and Croatian art was also taking on a new form. The Munich Four were part of the new direction, especially "J. Račić and M. Kraljević, who in their short lives succeeded in creating works pivotal to the continued development of art".
"Do not be in any doubt as to Račić's inherent artistic sensibility and the authenticity of his power to think.(...) Račić's painting is at the top the end of the development of traditional realism in the broad sense of the word. Oriented toward Manet, the idealized Goya and focused shaping of forces: the true pictorial interpretation of emotions. His work certainly stands above all" Radoslav Putar
Račić's work is extremely important for the birth of the Croatian modern art and its incorporation into European trends of modern painting.
The Josip Račić Modern Gallery Studio in Zagreb is named in honour of the artist. It is associated with the Modern Gallery, and is dedicated to the presentation of the works of Croatian contemporary artists.
Works by Josip Račić are on display in the Modern Gallery in Zagreb as part of its permanent collection.