6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 174 RAZPRAVE Frano Dulibi}, Zagreb RELATIONS BETWEEN CARTOONS AND PAINTING IN THE WORK OF ANTUN MOTIKA The exhibitions marking the twentieth anniversary of the death of Antun Motika that were recently held in Zagreb have confirmed that his grand and outstanding opus still deserves special attention.1 For understanding and interpreting an artist’s expression, the most intriguing period is the one belonging to his artistic formation and maturation - however, this is also the period that is usually most deficient in information required for such a study. Motika attended The Imperial-Royal State Lyceum in Pazin, where his talent was recognized by the Slovenian painter Saša Šantel.2 Antun Motika’s biographer, Milivoje Mihailović, mentions how the young painter was observed and advised by Šantel: “He taught him to hold the pencil properly, advised him to keep the muscles of the right hand relaxed, to let the hand float above the paper, taught him how to shade.” He also notes Motika’s recollections of Šantel: “I learned from him how the colours should be spread and blended, how transparent water-colour 1 Darko Glavan, Antun Motika (Zagreb, Klovićevi dvori Museum and Gallery Centre), Zagreb 2002; Lada Bošnjak, Antun Motika, Pogled u zagre-bačke privatne zbirke [Antun Motika: A View into the Zagreb Private Collections] (Zagreb, Klovićevi dvori Museum and Gallery Centre), Zagreb, 2003. An earlier comprehensive source for the painter’s work and biography is the catalogue from a retrospective exhibition that was held in Zagreb in 1974: Darko Schneider, Antun Motika, retrospektiva 1927-1974 [Antun Motika, Retrospective 1927-1974] (Zagreb, Gallery of Modern Art), Zagreb 1974. 2 Saša Šantel (Gorica, 15 March 1883 - Ljubljana, 1 July 1945), a painter, musician and teacher. Studied painting in Vienna. He came to Pazin in 1907 and stayed there till the end of the World War One. He then worked for two years at the secondary school at Sušak. Afterwards he worked as a teacher and graphic artist in Ljubljana. He wrote about visual arts and encouraged young talented students. He created about one hundred works. A posthumous retrospective exhibition was held in Ljubljana in 1983. Ida Tomše, Saša Šantel: 1883-1945 (Ljubljana, National Gallery), Ljubljana 1983. 3 Milivoje Mihailović, Čežnja za svetlošću Antuna Motike [Antun Motika’s Longing for Light], Zagreb 1981, p. 17. 174 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 175 RAZPRAVE layers can be infused and saturated with thicker coats of paint, and how to achieve contrasts. For me, the realization of the fact that all the charm of water-colour lies in the soft and transparent handling of paint was a revelation.”4 Some other sources speak about Motika’s early need for an artistic expression; already as a small child, he used to make different shapes out of sugar cubes and chocolate.5 His early drawings from his secondary school days already demonstrate, except for his great imagination and wit (an inclination to caricature), some of the features that were to be characteristic of his entire future work. During his studies at the Academy of Arts in Zagreb, Motika was dissatisfied with the inflexibility of his teacher Vladimir Becić (1925) and soon he transferred to the class of Ljubo Babić (1925-1927), whose methods he preferred and appreciated. At the time, the work of Miroslav Kraljević and Josip Račić served as a model and ideal for the majority of young painters in Croatia, including Motika. After he had completed his studies, as a rather poor young man of delicate health, Motika tried to earn his living by selling ceramic figures and watercolours. His unsatisfactory financial situation was probably one of the main reasons why he, an essentially introverted boy, agreed to work for the most famous satirical weekly magazine in Zagreb, Koprive. Although he worked for Koprive for only two years (1929 and 1930), he managed to create a unique language as a cartoonist. In the beginning he used the pseudonym Lopata, but later on he started to sign his drawings with his own surname.7 A great number of distinctive features differentiated his cartoons from the ones drawn by his col- 4 M. Mihailović 1981, cit. n. 3, pp. 18-19. 5 J. D. V, Mladost, 13/1935, no. 8, pp. 182-186. 6 Motika, about Račić and Kraljević: “… the tonalities of the first and the painterly matter of the second influenced my initial and final programme: to combine flesh and soul”; in Matko Peić, Hrvatski umjetnici [Croatian Artists], Zagreb 1968, p. 322. In one of the later conversations, he said: “For years I dreamed about becoming a painter like the two of them. I considered their paintings the masterpieces of contemporary ideas and my attempts outside the school building always remained under their influence. Račić and Kraljević gave me an idea of what Paris could offer to a painter searching for his identity”; in Darko Schneider, Antun Motika (Zagreb, Gallery of Modern Art), Zagreb 1975, p. 11. 7 A play on words: in Croatian, lopata is a shovel, and motika is a hoe. 175 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 176 RAZPRAVE leagues for Koprive. Petar Papp’s big figures trying to “squeeze into” the format of the drawing were completely different from Motika’s compositions. His cartoons show wider urban areas, almost from a bird’s eye view (e.g. a view of a town-quarter, the interior of a theatre hall, a street), crowded with small figures in motion. That is why his cartoons often resemble anthills. The specific expression is what distinguishes his work from the work of his contemporaries in Koprive (Petar Paap, Andrija Maurović, Sergej Mironović, Franjo Maixner and Ivo Tijardović). In general, all the these cartoonists had, in spite of the differences in their individual “handwriting”, a much simpler style of drawing than Motika. They drew their inspiration from the tradition of popular drawing in caricature, comics and animated cartoons, whose popularity was growing at the time. Their works do not reveal any obvious proof of contact with contemporary artistic movements and tendencies, with the exception of Tijardović, whose work displays characteristics of art deco. When looking for the origin or the starting point of Motika’s work, one finds that the only possible model for his cartoons published in 1929 could have been Georg Grosz, and the fact is not surprising, considering Grosz’s great popularity at the time. The texts dealing with the group “Zemlja”, which was founded in 1929, mention Grosz as one of the most influential models, which is evident not only in matters of style, but also through socially engaged themes.8 Apart from this, it should not be forgotten that Grosz started to influence Croatian artists very early - this can be seen in the illustrations by Milivoj Uzelac, made in 1921 for the story “Mlada misa za Alojza Tičeka” [“A Young Mass for Alojz Tiček”], written by Miroslav Krleža. Krleža’s interest and understanding of Grosz is evident in his intriguing essay “O njemačkom slikaru Georgu Groszu” [“On the German Painter Georg Grosz”], which was published in 1926. The elements of his literary style are equivalent to the painter’s visual expression.9 8 Critical Retrospective on the Group “Zemlja” (Zagreb, Art Pavilion), Zagreb 1971; Božidar Gagro, “Zemlja” naspram europske umjetnosti između dva rata [“Zemlja” in comparison to European art between the two World Wars], Život umjetnosti, 11-12, 1970, pp. 25-33. 9 Miroslav Krleža, O njemačkom slikaru Georgu Groszu [On the German painter Georg Grosz], Jutarnji list, 1926, no. 5229, p. 19-20; more about the interrelation between illustration and text on the example of collabo- 176 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 177 RAZPRAVE In spite of some obvious similarities between Motika and Grosz (frequent mass scenes, grotesque characters, a bird’s eye view), a great number of Motika’s distinctive qualities originate from his artistic personality. His representation of open space is completely different, architecture is stylised in order to be amusing, sharp angles are not very prominent, and the open space never appears fragmented. Apart from that, even as a child Motika showed a talent for representing architecture in an entertaining and surreal manner, maintaining at the same time some of the characteristics that made it recognizable. When representing people, Motika makes them comically grotesque, but not frighteningly distorted, as Grosz does. He never tends to be a serious social critic, but tries to approach actual social problems with humour. The situations he represents belong to the everyday life of Zagreb. In the second half of 1929 he started to portray some motifs from Mostar, where he started to work as a secondary school teacher. While Motika was creating a personal and unique style in cartoons, the members of the newly founded group “Zemlja”, in whose work a range of different influences can be traced, were beginning to insist on the need for an independent and distinctive national artistic expression.10 Cartoons published at the time in the satirical magazine Koprive were usually partly tinted brown, green, orange, blue or red; that is why the black-and-white reproductions of Motika’s cartoons can give us only a fragmentary insight into his work. Other than that, his original drawings, full of details, suffered in print because of the inadequate technical possibilities of the time, which certainly had less influence on cartoons with different stylistic features, in which the figures were outlined more conspicuously (e.g. Vereš, Maixner). In 1930 the style of Motika’s cartoons underwent a considerable change. One gets the impression that in 1929 the themes and expression of his cartoons were following a clearly defined concept, which was radically modified in 1930. Compositions and themes changed: in 1929 Motika was occupied by wide exterior scenes, crammed ration between Milan Begović and Miroslav Krleža, in: Frano Dulibić, Erotski crteži i grafike Milivoja Uzelca (1917-1920) [Milivoj Uzelac’s erotic sketches and graphics], Peristil, 44, 2001, pp. 99-116. 10 Ivanka Reberski, Zemlja u rijeći i vremenu [Zemlja in word and time], Život umjetnosti, 11-12, 1970, pp. 33-79. 177 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 178 RAZPRAVE 1. Antun Motika, Carnival in Ilica as Imagined by a Painter …, Koprive 1929, no. 7, p. 128 178 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 179 RAZPRAVE 2. Antun Motika, “Alles bewegt sich”, Koprive 1929, no.12, p. 240 3. Georg Grosz, Riot of the insane, 1915, pen and ink drawing, Bernard Schultz Collection, Berlin 4. Georg Grosz, Café, pen and ink drawing, from the book Ecce Homo, Malik Verlag, Berlin, 1923 179 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 180 RAZPRAVE *'..... f<* -¦' pni"B» *i*n "d mmJbi /»h ril« — 5. Antun Motika, Musicians in Ecstasies, Koprive 1930, no. 43, p. 845 7. Picasso, La Sieste, 1919, tempera, water-colour and pencil, Museum of Modern Art, New York 6. Antun Motika, Domestic Riviera, Koprive 1930, no. 36, p. 713 8. Picasso, Women Running on the Beach (1922), Oil on plywood, Museé Picasso, Paris 180 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 181 RAZPRAVE 9. Antun Motika, A No-Idea Situation, Koprive 1930, no. 46, p. 908 181 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 182 RAZPRAVE 10. Pierre Bonnard, Corner of a Dining- 11. Antun Motika, My Room, 1931, water-room, c. 1930, gouache, private collection colour on paper, Painter archive, Zagreb 12. Antun Motika, A Vase Shaped like a 13. Antun Motika, A Vase Shaped like a Stylised Head, drawing for ceramic, 1947, Stylised Nude, 1952, charcoal on paper, charcoal on paper, Painter archive, Zagreb Painter archive, Zagreb 182 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 183 RAZPRAVE 14. Antun Motika, Male Cat, 1961, colo- 15. Antun Motika, Drawing of a head ured crystal glass, Painter archive, Zagreb from the album “Drawings”, 1976, Painter archive, Zagreb 16. Antun Motika, Drawing of a head 17. Antun Motika, Drawing of a head from from the album “Drawings”, 1976, Painter the album “Drawings”, 1976, Painter arc-archive, Zagreb hive, Zagreb 183 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 184 RAZPRAVE 18. Antun Motika, Train-station, 1935, gouache on paper, Painter archive, Zagreb 19. Antun Motika, Alley, 1935, gouache on paper, Painter archive, Zagreb 184 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 185 RAZPRAVE 20. Antun Motika, Untitled, 1963, plastic 21. Antun Motika, Untitled, 1963, colour pools filled with coloured liquids, Painter on plastic, Painter archive, Zagreb archive, Zagreb with people, and in 1930 he turned towards indoor scenes, occupied by only a few larger figures. In his early cartoons one can easily detect the influences of Grosz, and in 1930 he seems to have been inspired by Picasso’s neoclassical figures that were frequently reproduced in various magazines. Even in this new manner of expression, Motika manifests his individual traits - especially in grotesque faces and skilful disposition of coloured areas within compositions. The limbs of the figures tend to be exaggerated, and bent as if they contained no bones, in order to achieve consistent rhythm, expression and, finally, a comic effect. Motika’s opus is related to that of Pablo Picasso through one other similarity, characteristic for painting and sculpture of the first half of the 20th century. In their excellent study on Pablo Picasso, published in 1990 under the title High and Low, Kirk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnik mention that Picasso’s early sketchbooks of were full of caricatures. Caricature was in fact Picasso’s innate manner of expression, and it was quite easy to distinguish caricatures from other drawings.11 In an attempt to follow and explore his artistic development from year to year, they realized that 1906 was the year in which Picasso began to fuse caricature and “high art”. That was time when he was working on the portrait of Gertrude Stein. As Varnedoe and Gopnik 11 Kirk Va rnedoe - Adam Gopnik, High and Low (New York, MOMA) New York 1990. 185 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 186 RAZPRAVE claim, the two genres become fused and impossible to distinguish from one another in Picasso’s drawings made after 1906. Although caricatures disappear from Motika’s opus after 1930, his work does reveal certain elements that retained elements of caricature and the motifs he was occupied with in his cartoons. This compatibility of the elements from Motika’s cartoons and easel paintings prove his commitment to his individual manner of expression, even in those periods in which he was compelled to paint what the art-market required. The sources inform us about his ten-month stay in Paris in 1930. The experience of Paris helped him to find his individual style of expression, in tune with his personality, on which his whole future development was based. Despite the fact that he was an introvert that shunned company, the hedonistic way of life in Paris suited him because of his hidden cheerfulness and sense of humour. This can be seen not only in his cartoons and schoolboy sketchbooks, but also in his entire opus. The humour that permeates his cartoons is quite simple, and we do not know whether his jokes were conceived by someone from the editorial staff of Koprive, or in which direction the collaboration actually worked. One of the last cartoons from 1930 (“A No-idea Situation”) deserves special attention, as it represents an early example of an auto-ironic attitude towards the genre in the history of Croatian caricature: a joke satirizing the continuous production of humorous content. His collaboration with the magazine ended when he left for Paris, where he stayed from 1930 to 1931.12 After 1930 Motika did not publish any cartoons, and none were found in his materials after his death. Motika’s painting has been most frequently compared with some painters belonging to what is called the “School of Paris” (Raoul Duffy, Maurice Utrillo, Henry Matisse). Similarities between Motika and Filippo de Pisis were stressed by Darko Glavan. We could go even 12 After he had returned from Paris, Motika worked as a secondary school teacher in Mostar (until 1940), and at The School of Applied Arts in Zagreb (until 1960). The starting point of his painting was post-impressionism; he was beginning to increasingly emphasize the harmonious rhythm of colours and brushstrokes, to which arabesque lines were added from time to time. All of this resulted in more and more unrestrained handling of colour, and around 1940 even in abstract compositions inspired with music. He used a collage and gouache technique, and from 1953 on he also made sculptures of glass. 186 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 187 RAZPRAVE further, and name a considerable number of artists whose work reveals some qualities that can be seen in Motika’s work as well. Judging from his mental and spiritual constitution, Motika is closest to Pierre Bonnard, especially when working with watercolour and gouache. Any speculations about this are completely unnecessary, because Motika never tried to deny the great impact Bonnard had on his work; on the contrary, he spoke openly about it.13 However, one should not forget the differences between the two of them: Motika’s palette is more subdued, his nuances more delicate, the brush-stroke more prone to arabesque, and the overall feeling even more intimate. Apart from that, Motika had an innate inclination towards constant improvement and exploration of new possibilities of visual expression. His long stay in Mostar can only support this fact. The provincial surroundings hardly influenced Motika’s creative possibilities and only postponed for a short period of time the next phase of his work, which would start as soon as he returned to Zagreb in 1940, and would be the most experimental one.14 The insight into his work provides justification for the conclusion that “The School of Paris” was of equal importance for Motika’s artistic formation as the influence of Saša Šantel and his other teachers. His creative personality was constantly transforming 13 “I was absorbed with green and violet hues, richness of colours and technical treatment. It was quite obvious that he treated the canvas with great care, and nourished the surface. He was changing the ways in which he applied paint on canvas, from transparent layers to impasto, dots, and fine, or just carelessly struck lines. I was surprised with the degree in which the painterly matter is saturated with his stroke and the way he spread paint. Different ways of spreading the same colour over the canvas resulted in totally different and unexpected effects. The painterly matter vibrates with warmth, sensuousness; it is soaked with the problematic relation between the painter’s personality and a never-ending loyalty to his own artistic expression. Every inch of his canvas bursts with matter and spirit, joy of life that becomes materialized. In this typically French colourist I discovered not only new colours, but also new harmonies, and declaration of Gallic hedonism. He had a great influence on my later work.” in: Milivoje Mihailovič 1981, cit. n. 3, p. 47. 14 Mihailović writes about the ways in which Motika’s colleagues commented his departure for Mostar: “But you are digging your own grave! None of us would accept such a position! A few days later ... - I am sorry. I offer my deepest sympathy. I have heard it all. A desert worse than Siberia!” in: Mihailovič 1981, cit. n. 3, p. 33. 187 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 188 RAZPRAVE 22. Antun Motika, A Motif from Istria, a page from the notebook “My Cartoons”, 1918-1919, The Cabinet of Graphics HAZU, Zagreb 23. Antun Motika, Pazin, a page from the notebook “My Cartoons”, 1918-1919, The Cabinet of Graphics HAZU, Zagreb 188 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 189 RAZPRAVE 24. Antun Motika, Istria and Pazin, a page from the notebook “My Cartoons”, 1918-1919, The Cabinet of Graphics HAZU, Zagreb 189 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 190 RAZPRAVE 25. Antun Motika, Sorrowslawia, a page from the notebook “My Cartoons”, 1918-1919, The Cabinet of Graphics HAZU, Zagreb 26. Antun Motika, Europe, a page from the notebook “My Cartoons”, 1918-1919, The Cabinet of Graphics HAZU, Zagreb 190 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 191 RAZPRAVE 27. Antun Motika, Me on Earth, a page from the notebook “My Cartoons”, 1918– 1919, The Cabinet of Graphics HAZU, Zagreb 28. Antun Motika, The Solar System and the Universe, a page from the notebook “My Cartoons”, 1918-1919, The Cabinet of Graphics HAZU, Zagreb 191 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 192 RAZPRAVE visual experience through the exploration of individual ways and means of expression. The components of his work were interpreted in a similar way by Darko Glavan, who has emphasized the self-confidence Motika gained in Paris.15 The most important confirmation of his pursuit of personal “handwriting” can be found among the writings of his biographer, Mihailović: “Whenever he thinks exclusively about the craft of painting, his highest ideal is Cézanne. But when he finds himself in front of the easel, he forgets about himself completely, searching for the reflection of the object seen.”16 In his fictionalised biography of Antun Motika, Mihailović names a succession of artists, from the old masters to Renoir, that were the object of Motika’s great admiration. However, his speculations about Paul Cézanne are the best evidence of the way in which he was building up his creative independence: “Despite the differences in personal handwriting, I learned from Cézanne much more than from any other painter the ways in which reality could be transformed into painterly vision. How to transform life into art.”17 His thoughts about Cézanne point to his perception of all other painters he was acquainted with, because he seemed to be constantly preoccupied and fascinated with the creative process and its achievements. The effect of diverse artistic creations was always stimulating. Because Motika was in a continuous search for the ways of interpreting light, it is natural that the greatest number of shared features can be found by artists with the same central preoccupation. Different periods of his artistic activity show a frequent presence of comic elements, or grotesque motifs. They can be clearly noticed in the drawings from 1952, shown at the exhibition “Archaic Surrealism”. They can also serve as a confirmation of Motika’s own artistic freedom, because Motika could have predicted the different reactions the drawings provoked: an animated polemic resulted from the pola- 15 “… the novelties and stylistic changes in Motika’s painting were induced rather by his newly acquired self-confidence than by a thorough scrutiny of the impressionists, Bonnard, Vuillard, Matisse, Utrillo, Soutine and other great painters whose influences (after his return from Paris) were correctly recognized, but sometimes also overemphasized by critics.” Glavan 2002, cit. n. 1, pp. 15-16. 16 Mihailovic 1981, cit. n. 3, p. 49. 17 Mihailovic 1981, cit. n. 3, p. 48. 192 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 193 RAZPRAVE rization of critical opinion - one side bearing the heavy burden of contemporary communist ideology (he was called a “decadent westerner”) and the other, proclaiming freedom of artistic creation.18 The exhibited drawings showed elements of caricature derived from surrealistic methods. The witty side of Motika’s character would be manifested after 1952, when he was beginning to make glass sculpture representing animals. By means of transformations from anthropomorphic to fantastic components, Motika managed to create imaginative figures and shapes that would attract the attention of both expert and lay audiences. Moreover, in his collection of drawings from 1976, there were found about a hundred drawings of grotesque heads that had never been exhibited.19 The entire collection almost has an intimate character, as if the drawings are at the same time an exercise, a note, a comment and a game. As a meticulous person, Motika never threw away any of his drawings, because in each of them he found at least some of the lines that he considered interesting because they incorporated the idea that had guided his hand. The observer will be fascinated by his persistence in continuous exploration, which resulted in a great range of imaginative and grotesque shapes into which the human face and head can be transformed, and which, undoubtedly, originated from his sensibility for the comic. It is quite interesting that there are no portraits among the drawings, or in his entire opus. The only exceptions are a few early self-portraits from the period of his studies. Although girls and young ladies were a frequent theme of his works, he painted them without any tendency towards individualization, and without indicating their names. What interested him was youth, innocence, womanly beauty, eroticism - in other words, a vision of woman without a necessary realistic model become materialized. 18 Archaic Surrealism, exhibition of drawings 1941-1951 (Zagreb, Salon of The Association of Croatian Artists), Zagreb 1952. Some of the more important texts addressing the polemic and commentaries on the exhibition are in the collection Hrvatska likovna kritika pedesetih [Croatian Art Criticism of the 1950s], ed. Ljiljana Kolešnik, Zagreb 2000. 19 The collection called Drawings was produced during 1976 and was found in the materials left after Motika’s death. He had changed the cover of Der Grosse Welt Atlas [The Great World Atlas] and stuck small size drawings of grotesque heads to its pages. 193 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 194 RAZPRAVE In the end, we should go back to Motika’s beginnings. We have mentioned his youthful inclination towards caricature. He was fragile and shy, and influenced by a dominating mother. We can suppose that the world of visual expression was a way out of the youthful frustrations of this hypersensitive boy. During the years of his education he attempted to start school-newspapers (Slavenska lipa [The Slavic Linden] and Vinko Lozić, both from 1919). To the same period belong a notebook with an illustrated story called “The Red Beard” (1917-1919), and a notebook with the title “My Cartoons” (1918-1919).20 The second one is particularly interesting, as it makes it clear that Motika tended to observe all the things in a cartoon-like way - literally the entire world, and even the entire universe. It also shows that in his youth he had already developed an ability for the conceptual elaboration and realization of an idea. In the notebook My Cartoons Motika’s self-portrait caricature is on the back of the first page, and the following pages are covered with motifs of Istrian towns. The quality of the cartoons is fused with a childlike fantasy and humour in a simple and natural way, without any affectation. The small Istrian towns of Žminj and Pazin become living creatures: bell-towers and houses have hands and legs, doors are turned into mouths, trees are walking, and rocks are given faces. On the following pages Motika represented imaginative and witty maps of Yugoslavia, Europe and other continents. The entire concept ends with a humorous interpretation of the solar system. The notebook reveals not only his drawing potential, but also a previously conceived concept, as well as Motika’s commitment to its realization. My Cartoons was made when he was only sixteen, and their particular significance lies in the fact that they contain some elements of his future work, elements that could easily have been erroneously ascribed to later influences. A view of the motif from above is characteristic for Motika, but also for Bonnard, and often, even in his youth, it becomes realized as a bird’s eye view. Already at the age of sixteen he was capable of an ironic distance from the immediate surrounding (repeated later in Koprive), 20 The school-newspaper and the illustrated story “The Red Beard” belong to the estate of Antun Motika, and the notebook My Cartoons (52 folios, ca. 23 x 16 cm) is the property of The Cabinet of Graphics of The Croatian Academy of Arts and Science in Zagreb. 194 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 195 RAZPRAVE and his preoccupation with the solar system and the sun proves that he was absorbed with the question of how to represent light. It should be added that in 1941 he began experimenting with light, letting it through glass surfaces, between which he put various kinds of organic or inorganic matter. The example of Antun Motika demonstrates that the question of outside influences on an artist’s work is much more complex than we usually suppose. They require a careful and thorough interpretation, which takes into consideration all the different ways, degrees and perspectives in which these influences can be transformed, manifested and reflected. The problem has been excellently elaborated by Michael Baxandall.21 The study of the relationship between Motika’s painting and cartoons shows the early instinctive preoccupation he expressed with the representation of space and light, which was neglected during his studies. He rediscovered light and made it the key element of his work during his first stay in Paris in 1930. Because his cartoons were influenced by easel painting, his paintings always contained some cartoon-like means of expression. Although an introvert in private life, as a visual artist he had an “extroverted” attitude towards finding new ways of expression. Throwing light on the relationship between Motika’s cartoons and painting will contribute to a better understanding of his creative process and development of his artistic individuality. A fuller insight into Motika’s work may provide support for new interpretations and a re-evaluation of his art, which deserves to be placed in a wider context outside national boundaries. 21 Michael Baxandall, Patterns of Intention, New Haven 1985, pp. 58-60. 195 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 196 RAZPRAVE 74/75(497.5):929 Motika A. izvirno znanstveno delo - original scientific paper RAZMERJE MED KARIKATURO IN SLIKARSTVOM V DELU ANTUNA MOTIKE Interpretacija razmerja med karikaturo in slikarstvom Antuna Motike (Pula, 30. 12. 1902 - Zagreb, 13. 2. 1992) temelji na analizah karikatur, ki jih je Motika ustvarjal v času šolanja na pazinski gimnaziji, ter na tistih, ki jih je objavljal v zagrebškem humorističnem tedniku »Koprive« leta 1929 in 1930. Opažene in pojasnjene so bile razlike v likovnem izrazu med karikaturami iz leta 1929, ki so po nekaterih lastnostih blizu značilnostim likovnega izraza Georga Grosza, medtem ko je karikature iz leta 1930 mogoče povezati z značilnostmi Picassovega neoklasicističnega načina izražanja. Tako kot je Picasso prenehal ustvarjati karikature, ko se je začel izražati na kubistični način, se tudi Motika po letu 1930 ni več ukvarjal s karikaturo, ampak je elemente grotesknega in karikaturnega vnesel v štafelajno slikarstvo in skulpturo. Raziskovanje odnosa med karikaturo in slikarstvom je omogočilo interpretacijo zapletenega razmerja različnih vplivov in individualnih značilnosti likovnega izraza Antuna Motike. Kot posebno zanimive so poudarjene nekatere prvine Motikovega izraza, ki so prisotne še iz otroštva in jih najbolje vidimo v skicirki »Moje karikature« iz let 1918-1919, ko je bilo Motiki 16 oziroma 17 let. Opaženo je, da je slikar že takrat kazal zanimanje za upodabljanje prostora z zvišanega očišča ali iz ptičje perspektive, medtem ko lahko pogosto prisotnost sonca kot vira svetlobe povežemo s temo svetlobe, ki je osrednji motiv njegovega ustvarjanja, motiv s katerim je delal najrazličnejše poskuse od leta 1940 dalje, ko je prišel v Zagreb. Takrat je začel uporabljati različne materiale in kombinirati različne tehnike. V tem času so nastajale tudi njegove abstraktne slike, na katerih je ponazarjal ritem glasbe. Velik del celotnega opusa je izveden v tehnikah gvaša in akvarela, od konca druge svetovne vojne pa je pogosto izdeloval kolaže, dekalkomanije, svetlobne projekcije, prav tako pa tudi kiparska dela v keramiki, steklu in bronu. Tudi motiv vesolja, oziroma sončnega sistema, pogosto srečamo v njegovem poznem opusu. Upodabljanje prostora iz skoraj ptičje perspektive ali z izrazito dvignjenega očišča ni prisotno zgolj na risbah v njegovi gimnazijski skicirki, temveč tudi na karikaturah, objavljenih leta 1929 v »Koprivah«. Slikarjevo desetmesečno bivanje v Parizu leta 1930 je bilo vsekakor pomembno za njegovo dozorevanje, vendar je pretirano poudarjanje vpliva Bonnarda, Utrilla, Dufyja in drugih zmotno, ker je Motika najrazličnejše vplive absorbiral in preoblikoval skozi oblikovanje lastnega izraza, pri tem pa neprestano razvijal tiste značilnosti, ki so bile najbližje njegovemu duhovnemu ustroju. Prav te značilnosti zlahka prepoznamo že v starosti 16 oz. 17 let, ko še ni mogel poznati del slikarjev t. i. pariške šole. Pojasnjevanje razmerja med karikaturo in slikarstvom Antuna Motike omogoča boljše razumevanje njegovega ustvarjalnega procesa in logične- 196 6 raz - dulibic 174-197 03/11/2003 12:23 Page 197 RAZPRAVE ga razvoja bogatega in zanimivega opusa. Spoznanja o izoblikovanju Moti-kovega likovnega izraza lahko spodbudijo nove interpretacije in novo ovrednotenje opusa, ki si zasluži tudi mesto v umetnostni zgodovini zunaj nacionalnega okvira, v katerem je nastal. Slikovno gradivo: 1. Antun Motika, Karneval v Ilici, kot si ga zamišlja slikar …, Koprive 1929, no. 7, p. 128 2. Antun Motika, “Alles bewegt sich”, Koprive 1929, no. 12, p. 240 3. Georg Grosz, Divjanje ponorelih, 1915, perorisba, Bernard Schultz Collection, Berlin 4. Georg Grosz, Café, perorisba, iz knjige Ecce Homo, Malik Verlag, Berlin, 1923 5. Antun Motika, Godbeniki v ekstazi, Koprive 1930, no. 43, p. 845 6. Antun Motika, Domača riviera, Koprive 1930, no. 36, p. 713 7. Picasso, La Sieste, 1919, tempera, akvarel in svinčnik, Museum of Modern Art, New York 8. Picasso, ženski, ki tečeta po plaži (1922), olje na vezani plošči, Musée Picasso, Paris 9. Antun Motika, Brezidejna situacija, Koprive 1930, no. 46, p. 908 10. Pierre Bonnard, Kot v jedilnici, c. 1930, gvaš, zasebna zbirka 11. Antun Motika, Moja soba, 1931, akvarel, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 12. Antun Motika, Vaza, oblikovana kot stilizirana glava, skica za keramiko, 1947, oglje na papirju, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 13. Antun Motika, Vaza, oblikovana kot stiliziran akt, 1952, oglje na papirju, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 14. Antun Motika, Maček, 1961, obarvano kristalno steklo, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 15. Antun Motika, Risba glave iz albuma »Crteži«, 1976, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 16. Antun Motika, Risba glave iz albuma »Crteži«, 1976, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 17. Antun Motika, Risba glave iz albuma »Crteži«, 1976, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 18. Antun Motika, Železniška postaja, 1935, gvaš, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 19. Antun Motika, Aleja, 1935, gvaš, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 20. Antun Motika, Brez naslova, 1963, plastične posodice, napolnjene z barnimi tekočinami, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 21. Antun Motika, Brez naslova, 1963, barva na plastiki, slikarjev arhiv, Zagreb 22. Antun Motika, Istrski motiv, iz skicirke »Moje karikature«, 1918-1919, Grafična zbirka HAZU, Zagreb 23. Antun Motika, Pazin, iz skicirke »Moje karikature«, 1918-1919, Grafična zbirka HAZU, Zagreb 24. Antun Motika, Istra in Pazin, iz skicirke »Moje karikature«, 1918-1919, Grafična zbirka HAZU, Zagreb 25. Antun Motika, Tugoslavija, iz skicirke »Moje karikature«, 1918-1919, Grafična zbirka HAZU, Zagreb 26. Antun Motika, Evropa, iz skicirke »Moje karikature«, 1918-1919, Grafična zbirka HAZU, Zagreb 27. Antun Motika, Jaz na Zemlji, iz skicirke »Moje karikature«, 1918-1919, Grafična zbirka HAZU, Zagreb 28. Antun Motika, Sončni sistem in vesolje, iz skicirke »Moje karikature«, 1918-1919, Grafična zbirka HAZU, Zagreb 197