Ivan Meštrović

Biography

Born in Vrpolje (present-day Croatia) to a modest peasant family, Meštrović spent his childhood herding sheep in the Dalmatian village of Otavice. It was there that he began carving wood and stone, revealing a precocious talent. At the age of 16, he became an apprentice to a stonemason in Split. Thanks to a patron, he later moved to Austria to study at the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna.

In Vienna, he drew close to the Secession movement. His international triumph came at the 1911 Rome International Exhibition, where his monumental works won first prize. He then moved to Paris, immersed himself in the city's artistic effervescence, befriended Rodin, and developed a style combining the strength of classicism with epic nationalism.

During World War I, Meštrović lived in exile and engaged politically for the creation of a unified Yugoslav state. Upon returning to his homeland, he was appointed rector of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. World War II marked a dark turning point: arrested and imprisoned by the fascist Ustaše regime because of his pro-Western stance, he was released thanks to the intervention of the Vatican and fled to Switzerland.

In 1946, Meštrović emigrated to the United States. There, he pursued a brilliant academic career, teaching fine arts at Syracuse University and later at the University of Notre Dame (Indiana). In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower personally granted him American citizenship. Meštrović passed away in 1962 in South Bend. Before his death, he donated his properties and more than 400 sculptures to Croatia.