In September 1885, Vlaho Bukovac exhibited more than forty works across two halls of the Royal School, including a number of smaller genre paintings, several seascapes, and a few minor sketches. The exhibition at the Realgymnasium (Velika Realka), located in the western wing of the Prokurative, was the first art event in Split and is regarded as the birthplace of the city’s modern art. On the occasion of its 140th anniversary, which coincides with the 170th anniversary of the artist’s birth, the Museum of Fine Arts has decided to pay tribute to Bukovac’s pivotal role in the development of visual arts in Split. Given the fact that his name is associated with the most significant events marking its early history, his role, much as in the cases of Dubrovnik and Zagreb, can be regarded as foundational. This recognition in no way diminishes the contributions of Vidović and Meštrović, whom Bukovac, despite the age difference, respected and supported.
Bukovac’s presence in the unofficial Dalmatian metropolis, though neither as frequent nor as prolonged as in Cavtat, Dubrovnik, or Zagreb, is the focus of the exhibition Vlaho Bukovac and Split. The close and mutually respectful relationship between the city and the artist, established during his sole extended stay in Split, from the winter of 1884 to early autumn 1885, remained apparent in later visits and endured beyond his death. In Split, Bukovac held his most extensive solo exhibition in the country (Velika Realka, 1885) as well as his first posthumous exhibition (foyer of the Municipal Theatre, 1925). When the Museum of Fine Arts eventually opened in 1931, around twenty of his paintings were displayed in its finest spaces.
Bukovac arrived in Split in early 1897 to paint a portrait of Don Frane Bulić, commissioned by Don Frane’s pupils following his forced retirement. In keeping with the customs of the time, the painting was displayed in the window of Bužančić’s shop on the People’s Square. The renowned artist was spotted in a tavern, praising two of Vidović’s works exhibited in Ševeljević’s shop, encouraging the young artist to persist, and inviting him to submit pieces to the Salon in Zagreb. For unknown reasons, Vidović did not take part in the 1898 Croatian Salon in Zagreb; however, when a similar exhibition was organised in Split about ten years later, Bukovac willingly accepted Vidović’s invitation. At the celebrated First Dalmatian Art Exhibition in 1908, held in the newly constructed Croatian Home, Bukovac was the most prominently represented artist, with eighteen of his works on display. During the exhibition, he spent several days in Split, where artists and writers hosted a banquet in his honour at the Hotel Troccoli. As an additional gesture of support for Split and Dalmatian artists, he accepted the role of honorary president for the exhibition organised by the newly founded Medulić Association of Croatian Artists. Undoubtedly, the popularity of the exhibition was in large part due to the presence of his works. In a city of around twenty thousand residents, the exhibition was attended by between 7,000 and 10,000 visitors over a period of two and a half months, according to various sources. During the exhibition, plans were set in motion to establish an art museum, the future Museum of Fine Arts, in whose holdings Bukovac has been represented from the very beginning. The Dalmatian governor and amateur painter, Dubrovnik native Niko Nardelli, purchased several works for the Ministry of Education during his visit and donated them to the municipality for the painting gallery. Among these was Bukovac’s painting By the Sea.
The last exhibition of Bukovac’s works held in Split during his lifetime, but without his presence, was the “Exhibition of Yugoslav Artists from Dalmatia” in 1919, staged in the new Velika Realka building. It was organised by the Medulić Association, then led by Ivan Meštrović. Due to unsettled post-war conditions, limited transport, and the short preparation time, the exhibition mainly showcased artworks already in Split. Bukovac was represented by eleven loaned paintings, primarily portraits painted many years earlier.
Bukovac died in Prague on 23 April 1922, before he could return to his homeland. Split continued to honour the distinguished artist, rightly regarding him as part of its own history. In 1925, to celebrate the completion of the Lika railway, the Adriatic Exhibition was held in Split to showcase the region’s economic and cultural potential. The cultural programme included an exhibition of Dalmatian artists, alongside the unveiling of Ivan Meštrović’s Monument to Marko Marulić, the opening of the Natural History Museum on Marjan, and the Ethnographic Museum in the former Municipal Hall on People’s Square. Works by Bukovac, Medović, and Rendić were displayed in the theatre foyer, while the pieces of other artists were exhibited in the gymnasium of the Velika Realka. Thirty-four of Bukovac’s paintings, created over a considerable period, were shown on this occasion. Although presented within a group framework, considering the scope, content, and the way the three artists’ works were displayed separately, this can be regarded as Bukovac’s first posthumous exhibition in his homeland.
The exhibition Vlaho Bukovac and Split continues the Museum of Fine Arts’ exploration of the history of modern art in Split. This journey begins, quite literally, with Bukovac’s first exhibition, which was far more varied and sumptuous than previously acknowledged. He stayed in Split during a period of political and economic optimism. The Autonomists were finally defeated in the 1882 elections, and phylloxera had yet to appear in the vineyards. In Split, Bukovac did not confine himself to painting or exhibiting portraits, nor did he work solely in the makeshift studio at the Hôtel de la Ville (now the Bellevue), where he was staying; he also painted en plein air in front of the hotel. A comparison with contemporary photographs shows that the topographical and architectural details in his painting Fishing Boats (Port with Boats) from 1885 (Museum of Modern Art Dubrovnik) depict the monastery of St Francis before its restoration, with the silhouette of Šolta visible in the distance. According to Ercolano Salvi’s account, published in the Zadar newspaper Il Dalmata, a rich and invaluable source of information on the exhibition, two of the artist’s paintings intended for the salon de beaux arts in Paris were also displayed. The detailed description provided by the informed writer identifies the works as the Konavle Woman in Winter Clothes and Sea Bathing, the latter now lost and formerly dated to 1890. Marija Koporčić, an amateur artist of refined and elevated taste who proved a valuable ally to the painter, exhibited several of her own works alongside Bukovac. She exhibited her paintings in the shop windows of Split, and the Split City Museum holds her 1887 portrait of Antonio Bajamonti.
Art in Split is commonly seen as divided into the periods before and after Bukovac. Before his arrival, painting was still in a rudimentary stage, and the city was hardly noteworthy in the realm of contemporary art. Two paintings by Giacomo Favretto, owned by the Katalinić family, were the only modern works to be found in Split. One of these, which hung above the piano, is depicted in Bukovac’s celebrated work Children of the Katalinić Family. These details, along with the Chinese vases and Thonet chairs, reflect a prosperous and culturally sophisticated bourgeois family. It is therefore no surprise that the Katalinićs were Bukovac’s most frequent clients in Split. Already acclaimed in Paris, the painter made art a central topic of social conversation, and Bukovac became not only the hero of the day but also the person of the year.
According to his own account, he painted a hundred portraits during this period. In Split, however, he neither painted nor exhibited exclusively portraits. Far from Paris and free from the academic constraints of the Paris Salon, he used his time in Dalmatia and Split to modernise his artistic style. Given this, and the fact that Bukovac did not come to Zagreb until 1893, should we reconsider Split’s role in the development of national art? Unlike in Zagreb, he had no intention of settling permanently in Split. In Paris, after creating a stir with La Grande Iza, he was only beginning to receive recognition and awards. A new market had also opened for him in England. In Split, he could expect neither major public commissions nor pupils to pass his knowledge on to, nor a circle of artists to gather around him. The generation of Vidović and Meštrović, with whom he would exhibit at the First Dalmatian Art Exhibition in 1908, had not yet begun their studies at the academies and would largely seek their fortunes elsewhere. It could therefore be said that with Bukovac began a pattern of temporary stays and departures, significant events that had little lasting effect or continuity.
The 140th anniversary of Split’s first art exhibition is being marked by the Museum of Fine Arts as an hommage to Bukovac’s artistic legacy, showcasing the painter’s works created or exhibited in Split from 1884 to the late 1930s. In addition to Bukovac’s paintings, the exhibition will include selected works from the Archaeological Museum in Split, the Tuškanac Education Centre in Zagreb, the Split City Museum, the Museums and Galleries of Konavle, the Bukovac House in Cavtat, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb, the National Museum Zadar, the Archdiocese of Split-Makarska, and private collections in Kuna, Zagreb, and Split.
Božo Majstorović / Iris Slade
The exhibition is open until the 30th November, 2025.
The exhibition is financed by the City of Split and Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia