Maksim Gaspari was a hyper-productive
artist who, through drawing and painting, spent decades jotting (and co-creating) a patriotic vision of the
Slovenian countryside. At the beginning of his creative career, together with
his fellow members of the Vesna art club and Fran Tratnik, he also took up
political cartooning, for the "political-satirical weekly" Osa (The Wasp). Despite the fact that Osawas published for only a short period between 1905 and 1906, its images are a penetrating
testimony to the fierce culture wars in Slovenian lands before the collapse of
the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The authors of the images (among others Gvidon
Birolla, Hinko Smrekar and Maksim Gaspari), although working under the
instructions of Rado Murnik and the National Progressive Party, were strongly
inspired by the Austro-German satirical sheets.
7 November – 4 December 2024
National Gallery of
Slovenia
Prešernova
24
1000
Ljubljana