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Anatomy class – then and now

Group exhibition

History of the course Human Anatomy and Animal Anatomy at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION

"Anatomy Lesson – Then and Now" is an exhibition that presents valuable historical and artistic archival material related to the subject of Anatomy – the backbone of the art curriculum of the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts since its founding. The idea for the project came from a prepared, but unpublished textbook of plastic anatomy, which the professors of the Provisional Higher School of Arts and Crafts (today the Academy of Fine Arts) Rudolf Valdec and Bela Csikos Sesia, prepared in 1914 for the teaching of their students.

The anatomical atlas for artists, entitled "Plastic Anatomy", is stored in the Archives of Fine Arts of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts within the legacy of Rudolf Valdec, and contains about three hundred sheets that include manuscripts and hand-drawn illustrations. The atlas represents an invaluable work of art and science, which connects medicine, anthropology, physiology and art.

The exhibition will feature drawings and texts from the Anatomical Atlas, recent works by Academy students on the topic of the human body, a short film on anatomy by red.prof.art. Darko Bakliža, and the history of the subjects Human Anatomy and Animal Anatomy at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. The authors of the exhibition are art historians Ariana Novina and dr.sc. Darija Alujević and associates Jasenka Ferber Bogdan and Andreja Der-Hazarijan Vukić.

Along with the preparation of the exhibition, a virtual exhibition was prepared in cooperation with the Archives of Fine Arts of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Archives of the Academy of Fine Arts.

"Will is a Skeleton – Desire is Muscle / Rudolf Valdec and Bela Csikos Sesia: Anatomical Atlas for Artists" (dizbi.hazu.hr/anatomija), whose emphasis is on the analysis of a previously digitized manuscript, the elaboration of the relationship between art and medicine, the beginnings and ways of teaching Plastic Anatomy at the Academy of Fine Arts, from its foundation to the present day. Authors of the exhibition: Jasenka Ferber Bogdan, Andreja Der-Hazarijan Vukić, dr.sc. Darija Alujević (Archives of Fine Arts of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts) and Ariana Novina (Archives of the Academy of Fine Arts).

Both exhibitions are financed by the City Office for Culture of the City of Zagreb, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia and the funds of the ICARUS Croatia association within the activities of the international Creative Europe project CREARCH.

The project PLASTIC ANATOMY – THE FIRST CROATIAN ANATOMICAL ATLAS FOR ARTISTS is conceived as the beginning of the creation of a joint digital repository of valuable and rare archival material of the Archives of Fine Arts of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (hereinafter: ARLIKUM HAZU) and the Archives of the Academy of Fine Arts.

Plastic Anatomy – the first Croatian anatomical atlas for artists; it is the work of Rudolf Valdec and Bela Čikoš Sesija, professors of the then Provisional Higher School of Arts and Crafts (now the Academy of Fine Arts) from 1914.

This atlas has been kept in ARLIKUM HAZU since 1947, and as an original it represents an invaluable work of art and science. It consists of 380 sheets, which include manuscripts, columns with printed text and original illustrations.

At the exhibition, we plan to exhibit anatomical drawings from the atlas, which have not been exhibited so far, and to present the history of the subject of Anatomy at the Academy of Fine Arts from the beginnings (1907) to the present day. The exhibition will also include recent works by students of all departments of the Academy, with an emphasis on creative derivatives on the topic of anatomy.

The aim of this exhibition is to research, process and make available very valuable historical and artistic archival material, related to the subject of Anatomy, which was and still is the backbone of education at the Academy. In addition to ARLIKUM HAZU, in the next phase, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zagreb are also intended to be involved in the project.

CVs

Ariana Novina, head of the Archives of the Academy of Fine Arts.
She actively participates in projects related to culture: preparation of exhibitions and editions and organization of conferences. She deals with the topics of art and architecture of the beginning of 20.st, related to the history of the Academy. She participates in archival and museological projects.

Dr.sc. Darija Alujević, Senior Associate at the Archives of Fine Arts of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, PhD at the Department of Art History, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. She deals with topics from the field of Croatian fine arts at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Author and co-author of several exhibition projects (The Challenge of Modernity: Zagreb – Vienna around 1900; Allegory and Arcadia; Earth; virtual exhibitions Pablo Picasso, Salon Ullrich).

Andreja Der-Hazarijan Vukić, expert advisor at the Archives of Fine Arts of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Her themes and research are related to Zagreb, its urban sculpture and architecture from the beginning of the century. Author and co-author of several exhibition projects (Youth Salon; Jugoton – East of Paradise, Echoes of the Frontline: Zagreb in the First World War; ORA – Ideology Design; virtual exhibitions Pablo Picasso, Salon Ullrich)

Jasenka Ferber Bogdan, director of the Archives of Fine Arts of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, graduated in art history from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. She deals with topics in the field of Croatian fine arts at the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. Author and co-author of several exhibitions (Vesna Vinski; From Elsa-fluid to Elsa-fluid home; virtual exhibitions Pablo Picasso, Salon Ullrich).

Danko Friščić, izv.prof.art. After graduating from the School of Applied Arts, in 1994 he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and graduated in painting in the class of Prof. Đuro Seder. He is a laureate of the Rector's Award of the University of Zagreb for painting in 1995. With his painting expression, he joined the generational of those artists who have established communication within their aesthetic criteria and the public through innovative projects, trying to revitalize, simplify, and enrich contemporary art with artistic issues. He is a member of the Croatian Association of Artists and the Croatian Academy of Fine Arts, and works as an independent artist. In 2006, he was employed as a senior assistant at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where he also enrolled in postgraduate studies in painting. He lives and works in Zagreb.

The exhibition at the Šira Gallery can be viewed during the Gallery's working hours (Mon-Fri: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Saturdays: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) until April 20, 2021.