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Artist or Maker: IVAN MESTROVIC 1883-1962

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Medium: Pietà: pencil and charcoal on paperMadonna and Child: pencil and charcoal on dark brown paper

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Dimensions: Pietà: 34 by 23.5cm., 13 3/8 by 9¼in. Madonna and Child: 39 by 27.5cm., 15 3/8 by 10 7/8 in.

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Provenance: From the collection of Ruza Klein, the artist's first wife;
Gifted to her first cousin, Anny Juer, née Klein;
and thence by descent

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Notes:

The signatures on both these drawings can be compared to signatures appearing on drawings dating to 1913 in the collection of the Městrović family. Moreover the Pietà drawing relates very closely to other works on the same theme dating to 1913. In particular the depiction of Christ, with its strong references to Městrović's own features, can be compared to a Head of Christ which Městrović carved in walnut that year in Rome, now in the collection of the Ivan Městrović Gallery, Split. Městrović's art always had a strong thread of autobiographical reference, with his own features and those of his loved ones appearing frequently in the guise of religious or allegorical characters.

A reference to his beloved Dalmatia is seen in the Virgin's veil wrapped tightly round her head, like the traditional headdress worn by Městrović's mother in his portrait of her from 1907. It is tempting to see the likeness of Ruza in the Virgin. Unusually, the head of Christ is above the Virgin, appearing to shelter her. The poignant mood and tenderness between the two heads takes on secular echoes of the couple's ardent but troubled relationship. The provenance, coming from Ruza's own family, is very rare and the fact that the drawing was given by Městrović to be treasured by Ruza suggests that it had strong personal connotations.