Marjan
Pogačnik (1920–2005) was a master of intaglio techniques. After graduation from
the masterclass with Gabrijel Stupica, he laid down his brushes and turned to
printmaking, mainly dry point. His critics immediately noticed a gifted
draughtsman of intimate experience and lyrical expression. The formal
originality of his embossed colour prints begs the question about the nature of
his technique that the artist himself called »mediaeval«. Paradoxically,
Pogačnik achieved his formal distinction by exploiting etching procedure pure
and simple. Thus, he kept his distinction from the rest of the members of the
so-called Graphic School of Ljubljana as well as within general tendencies
within Western printmaking of the time.
Black-and-white
prints of his classical period (1959−1963) are true stopping-out etchings in
which different states contribute to the visual expression of the print.
Moreover, the visual effects of his classical etchings indicate that Pogačnik
sought the effect of the burr with different means. The combination with
embossed printing is essential to his prints. Formal possibilities of the
classical phase were exhausted relatively fast, thus Pogačnik started to add
colour. Relief properties of the plate, etched by stopping-out, clashed with
the dynamics of colour contrasts, which required fine-tuning of his palette. In
combination with embossed printing Pogačnik perfected the manner of deep
etching that established only two levels in the plate − coloured level of the
relief printing and the whiteness of paper in relief. The relief took over the
function of drawing as a network carrying colour composition.
Pogačnik's
printmaking technique was absurdly extensive − time consuming, physically
exhausting, burdened by a large number of discarded prints. Thus, his
print-runs pulled from large plates never exceeded 35 samples. Pogačnik mounted
only two solo shows in his lifetime, first in 1962 at the The Petite Gallery (Mala
galerija) of the Museum of Modern Art of Slovenia, and the second time at the
National Gallery of Slovenia in 2001−2002. Several printmaking manuals and
historical overviews of graphic arts have included his prints among
illustrations. He received several prestigious awards, such as gold medal at
the Alexandria Biennale for Mediterranean Countries in 1963, and International
Print Competition 77 in San Francisco in 1977, while one of his dry points
appeared on the poster for the Venice Biennale already in 1954. In Slovenia,
his prints fetched several purchase prizes at the International Biennial of
Graphic Arts as well as the Prešeren Fund Award in 1962, and the highest
national accolade, the Prešeren Lifetime Achievement Award, in 1986. The artist
bequeathed his complete creative heritage to the National Gallery of Slovenia.
Authors
of the exhibition
Tina Buh,
Admir Ganić, Andrej Smrekar
Project
leader
Tina Buh
Conservation-restoration
works for the exhibition
Tina Buh
Exhibition
set-up
Admir Ganić, Andrej Smrekar
The
works of art were loaned by
National
Gallery of Slovenia
National
Museum of Slovenia
The
project was supported by
18 April – 20 October 2024
National Gallery of Slovenia
Narodni dom Gallery
Cankarjeva 20
1000 Ljubljana