Nives Kavurić-Kurtović

Introduction

In the year of the celebration of the 85th anniversary of birth of Nives Kavurić-Kurtović (1938–2016), Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, we decided to pay due tribute to her artistic oeuvre. We have therefore chosen to present in virtual format around forty of her artworks, which form part of the holdings of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts. With this exhibition, we would like to point out the segment dedicated to the drawing and the print art within the rich and fascinating oeuvre of Nives Kavurić-Kurtović. We furthermore wish to stress the beginning of her artistic path, which took place in 1963 under the wing of the Department of Prints and Drawings ^[1]. The rise to the pinnacle of the Croatian and international art stage followed. As regards celebrations, this year, we festively mark the 60th anniversary of her first solo exhibition, also held at the Department of Prints and Drawings, and the 10th anniversary of the last exhibition of this artist ^[2] in our institution.

In the context of the valorisation and comprehension of the pluralism of contemporary tendencies in the Croatian art, by presenting exceptional and rarely exhibited drawings and prints by Nives Kavurić-Kurtović, we wish to stress one of the most valuable components of the Collection of the 20th and the 21st centuries. Several among these artworks, which were included into the collection mainly via buy-offs at biennial manifestations of drawing and print in the organisation of the Department of Prints and Drawings or thanks to donations from the artist, have not been presented to the public since becoming part of the holdings. Autonomous ductal code, harmonious compositions and remarkable narration in the spheres of consciousness and unconsciousness, of the spiritual and the physical, are intriguing. Her presentations including (self-) portrait-like reductions and deformed states of body and mind are surprising. Her candid artistic expression in presentations of personal visions and metaphorical narratives carries an exceptional appeal.

Ružica Pepelko

^[1] Her first solo exhibition was held in 1963 at the Art Studio of the Department of Prints and Drawings. This exhibition consisted of 16 drawings and 14 oils, and an accompanying brochure.

^[2] The exhibition of recent drawings, entitled Pola stoljeća nakon / Ništiti ništavnost (Half a Century Later / Invalidating Insignificance) was mounted at the exhibition premises of the Department of Prints and Drawings in 2012 and 2013. The accompanying catalogue including texts by Tonko Maroević and Ružica Pepelko was published.