Curriculum Vitae

Zagreb, 18 January 1938 – Zagreb, 30 October 2016

Nives Kavurić-Kurtović was born on 18 January 1938 in Zagreb. After having completed her secondary education at the Zagreb Ninth Secondary School in 1957, she enrolled the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, from which she graduated in painting and print art in 1962 in the class of Professor Frane Baće. Between 1962 and 1967, she was associate of Krsto Hegedušić's famous Master Workshop, in the stimulating and creative atmosphere of which she reached her artistic maturity. She held solo exhibitions as of 1963, when her first show of this kind was mounted at the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Yugoslav (today Croatian) Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1971, she became member of the Gallery Forum, where her work was frequently present – in group exhibitions and in solo shows. She had been an independent artist until 1983, when her professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb began, which was subsequently crowned by the status of professor emerita in 2007. She was elected Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1997.

Nives Kavurić-Kurtović was born on 18 January 1938 in Zagreb. After having completed her secondary education at the Zagreb Ninth Secondary School in 1957, she enrolled the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts, from which she graduated in painting and print art in 1962 in the class of Professor Frane Baće. Between 1962 and 1967, she was associate of Krsto Hegedušić’s famous Master Workshop, in the stimulating and creative atmosphere of which she reached her artistic maturity. She held solo exhibitions as of 1963, when her first show of this kind was mounted at the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Yugoslav (today Croatian) Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1971, she became member of the Gallery Forum, where her work was frequently present – in group exhibitions and in solo shows. She had been an independent artist until 1983, when her professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb began, which was subsequently crowned by the status of professor emerita in 2007. She was elected Fellow of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1997.

In her comprehensive oeuvre, individual paintings and drawings, as well as cycles, interchange: Gorčine / Bitternesses, 1962; Plačem svojim suzama / Crying my Own Tears, 1962; Ogledalo duše / Mirror of the Soul and Slutnja promašaja / Premonition of Failure, 1963; Potreba usamljenika / The Need of the Lonely One, 1964; Imitacija života / Imitation of Life and Te muhe / These Flies, 1964; Babilonijada upitnika / Babyloniad of Question Marks, 1965; Ljepotica osmog čula / Beauty of the Eighth Sense, 1965; Parada zareza / A Parade of Commas and Ruke zahtijevaju / Hands Demand, 1966; Srce zgaženog kažiprsta / The Heart of the Trodden Forefinger, 1967; cycle of drawings: Ubrzanje, lovice – ruke i misli / Acceleration, Hide and Seek – Hands and Thoughts, 1965–1966; in the 1970, oils on wood: Bolne ravnoteže / Painful Equilibriums, 1973; Spavaćica jedini dokaz sna / Nightgown the Only Evidence of Sleep, 1975; Tražiti rahle površine za šetnju duha / Looking for Loose Surfaces for a Stroll of the Spirit, 1977; Morbidna sa špiglom / The Morbid One with the Mirror, 1975; Nabujale gomoljike / Swollen Root Crops, 1978; cycle on wood boards: Iluzija zajedništva / Illusion of Togetherness, 1975; Tragom bezimenih istina / On the Traces of Nameless Truths, 1980–1981; cycle on canvas: Lica naličja / The Obverse of the Reverse, 1980; cycle of drawings: Ah, te ruke / Ah, These Hands, 1976–1980; drawings in the 1980s: Češljanje bez uvijanja / Combing without Curling, 1982; Imperativ intuitivnog moranja / Imperative of Intuitive Compulsion, 1983; Bez prava na središnju točku / Without the Right to a Central Point, 1983–1985; Misli iz rastresite tame / Thoughts from the Scattered Darkness, 1985; seventy-meter paper roll: Zarolan životom ili rolada življenja / Rolled by Life or the Roll of Living (1982–1983); in the early 1980s, hanging canvases – the so-called “mats”: Pietà, 1983 from the cycle Prostirka za snove bez spavača / Mat for Dreams with no Sleepers; Golom dušom svjedočim trag postojanja / With my Naked Soul I Witness the Trace of Existence, 1985–1986; Dvojnost / Duality, Haljina dokaz bića / Dress as Evidence of Being and Letač usahlih krila / Flier with Withered Wings from the cycle Bolne ravnoteže – Dvojnosti / Painful Equilibriums – Dualities; Čuvarica svjetla / Guardian of the Light, Jer, šutnja je zagubila tišinu / Because Silence has Misplaced Stillness and Pričest bjelinom / Communion in White of 1987; Da li u zakrilju ili okrilju / Behind Shield or Under Wing, 1988; Zakrpana zbilja / Patched Reality, 1990–1994; Čuvarica dobroga / Guardian of the Good, 1994; cycles of drawings: Urezani porezani / Carved Cut, 1990; Rasuta tišina / Scattered Silence, 1992; Vrijeme zapunjeno odustajanjem / Time Filled with Giving Up, 1995–1996; Osluškujem samo / Just Listening, 1999; cycle of paintings: Pahulja u oku, pokrov u duši / Snowflake in my Eye, Cover in my Soul, 1996–1997; Krpanje misli ili zakrpa zbilje / Patching Up Thoughts or a Patch of the Reality, 1997–1998; cycle of faces: Tapecirani jad / Padded Distress (2002); cycle of paintings on wood and wood board: Vrsta koja izumire / Dwindling Species (2003); drawings from the diary: Tko to govori zar zar!!! / Who is Saying Really Really!!!, 2010; cycle of drawings: Ništiti ništavnost / Invalidating Insignificance (2012); and drawings diary (2014–2016).

She engaged in poster art and book illustration, as well as in print art in bibliophile and print portfolios. Božo Biškupić wrote one monograph on her oeuvre (Nives Kavurić-Kurtović / Crteži, NSB, Zagreb, 1977), Tonko Maroević another one (Nives Kavurić-Kurtović, NSB, Zagreb, 1986), and Vladimir Bužančić the third one (Zbirka Tepić / Nives Kavurić-Kurtović, Zagreb, 1998). Nenad Puhovski shot and directed the short film Pet filmova o Nives K-K (Zagrebfilm, 1981). The following monographic exhibitions were mounted: 35 godina u službi osmog čula / 35 Years in Service of the Eighth Sense (Croatian Artists’ Association, 1998); A Retrospective 1962–2003 (Gallery of the National Museum, Zadar, 2003); and Putovanje zakutcima trajanja / Journey through the Nooks of Permanence (Gallery Klovićevi dvori, 2016).

Her study stays encompassed nearly all the countries across Europe and the USA. During her fruitful creative life, she participated in over one hundred and thirty solo shows and about a thousand group exhibitions at home and abroad. She is holder of numerous Croatian and international awards and acknowledgements. Artworks by Nives Kavurić-Kurtović form part of the holdings of many museums, galleries and private collections in Croatia and worldwide.

The artist died in Zagreb on 30 October 2016.

Awards and acknowledgements / Solo exhibitions

Awards and acknowledgements

1964
Honourable mention of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade at the 4th Zagreb Exhibition of the Yugoslav Drawing of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb, Croatia

1966
Honourable mention Likovne jeseni Sombor at the 2nd Triennial of the Yugoslav Drawing, Sombor, Serbia
2nd Prize in painting at the 4th Youth Biennial, Rijeka, Croatia

1967
Laureate (1st Prize) at the 5th Youth Biennial, Paris, France
1st Prize at the Yugoslav exhibition Poetic Phantastics, Sombor, Serbia

1968
Otokar Keršovani Award at the 1st International Exhibition of Original Drawing, Rijeka, Croatia
Vjesnik Award at the 5th Paris Youth Biennial – awarded authors, Zagreb, Croatia
First Prize at the 1st Zagreb Exhibition of the Yugoslav Drawing of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb, Croatia
First Prize at the 2. internationale Malerwochen, Graz, Austria
First Prize in painting at the 1st Youth Salon, Zagreb, Croatia

1969
Award at the 3rd Triennial of the Yugoslav Contemporary Drawing, Sombor, Serbia

1970
Award at the 5th Blue Salon, Zadar, Croatia

1972
Honourable mention at the 17th Ečka Colony, Ečka, Serbia

1973
Josip Račić Annual Award for 1972, Zagreb, Croatia

1974
Second Prize at the 8th Blue Salon, Zadar, Croatia

1977
Silver Plaque with Diploma of the Union of Associations of the Yugoslav Visual Artists – Belgrade at the 6th Zagreb Exhibition of the Yugoslav Drawing of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb, Croatia

1978
Commendation at the 1st Biennial of Yugoslav Art, New York, USA
First Prize of the Union of Associations of Artists in Applied Art at Zlatno pero, Belgrade, Serbia

1979
Honourable mention of the Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina – Sarajevo at the 1st Yugoslav Biennial of Watercolour Painting, Karlovac, Croatia
Honourable mention of the Gallery of the Yugoslav Portrait at the 4th Exhibition of the Yugoslav Portrait, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

1981
Ivana Brlić Mažuranić Annual Award for the illustration of the book Tko je čega sit by Zvonimir Balog, Školska knjiga, Zagreb, Croatia

1982
Grand prix at the 8th International Exhibition of Original Drawing, Rijeka, Croatia
Golden Centaur at the Premio d`Italia, Parma, Italia
Master of painting (honoris causa) at the International Seminar of Contemporary Art, Parma, Italia

1984
Statue of Victory of 1984. Centro Studio Ricerche dell Nazione, Parma, Italia

1985
Award in painting at the 6th Dubrovnik Salon, Dubrovnik, Croatia

1987
Honourable mention of the National and University Library Zagreb at the 11th Zagreb Exhibition of the Yugoslav Drawing of the Department of Prints and Drawings of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb, Croatia

1990
First Prize in painting at the 25th Zagreb Salon, Zagreb, Croatia

1995
Award of the Art Gallery Dubrovnik at the 1st Mediterranean Meeting, Dubrovnik, Croatia

1996
Decoration with the Order of the Croatian Star with the Effigy of Marko Marulić, Zagreb, Croatia

1997
Major Diploma in drawing at the INTERBIFEP, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

1998
Vladimir Nazor Annual Award, Zagreb, Croatia

2003
Life Achievement Award of the Croatian Artists’ Association, Zagreb, Croatia

2004.
Vladimir Nazor Life Achievement Award, Zagreb, Croatia

 

Solo exhibitions

1963
Zagreb, Department of Prints and Drawings of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts

1965
Zagreb, Student Centre Gallery

1966
Zagreb, Youth Club Gallery (with R. Trkulja)

1967
Ljubljana, City Gallery
Zagreb, Writers’ Club (with T. Hruškovec and Z. Šimunović)
Zagreb, Gallery Centar

1968
Subotica, Salon of the City Museum
Zagreb, Gallery Dubrava
Novi Sad, Gallery Tribina mladih

1969
Luzern, Galerie Raeber
Belgrade, Gallery of the National University Kolarac

1970
Ljubljana, Gallery Mala
Sombor, Gallery of the Culture Centre
Zagreb, Gallery Dubrava

1971
Belgrade, Gallery of the Youth Association
Vukovar, Exhibition Salon of City Museum

1972
Zagreb, Gallery Forum
Split, Art Gallery

1973
Osijek, Gallery Zodijak
Kutina, Museum of Moslavina
Zagreb, Gallery Lotrščak
Đakovo, Gallery of the Open University
Milan, Galleria dell´Incisione
Pula, Exhibition Salon of the Open University Jurica Kalc

1974
Wien – Baden, Kleine Galerie am Hauptplatz (with M. Šutej)
Zagreb, Gallery Forum
Karlovac, Zorin dom

1975
Zagreb, Gallery Na bankete
Zagreb, Gallery Lotrščak
Zagreb, Gallery Vladimir Nazor (with B. Baretić and M. Dolenčić-Malešević)

1976
Turin, Galleria Le signe
Basel, Galeria Grand passage
Zagreb, Mladost Bookshop
Stari Grad, Juraj Plančić Art Collection

1977
Basel, Kunstmesse
Zagreb, Gallery Lotrščak
Labin, Gallery of the National Museum

1978
Karlovac, Gallery Vjekoslav Karas
Ljubljana, Gallery Mala
Subotica, Salon of the Art Association
Varaždin, National Theatre
Zagreb, Gallery Forum
Zrenjanin, Gallery Mala

1979
Bjelovar, City Museum
Zagreb, Gallery Prozori
Rijeka, Small Salon of the Modern Gallery
Zagreb, City Library
Zagreb, Mladost Bookshop
Belgrade, Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzorić
Slavonski Brod, Gallery Glogovica
Čakovec, Museum of Međimurje

1980
Tuzla, Yugoslav Portrait Gallery
Rijeka, Gallery Čular

1981
Vinkovci, Art Gallery
Zagreb, Gallery Spektar
Velika Gorica, Gallery Galženica
Ljubljana, Business Centre Iskra
New York, Yugoslav Press and Cultural Center

1982
Novi Sad, Gallery of the Matica srpska
Šibenik, Gallery Krševan
Hvar, Gallery Škorpion
Osijek, Gallery Zodijak

1983
Split, Gallery Alfa
Zagreb, Art Pavilion

1984
Zagreb, Voltino Library
Belgrade, Art Pavilion Cvijeta Zuzorić
Priština, Galeria e Arteve
Rijeka, Small Salon
Dubrovnik, Gallery Sebastian

1985
Varaždin, Gallery Sebastian
Celje, Art Salon
Maribor, Exhibition Salon Rotovž
Zenica, Art Gallery of the City Museum

1986
San Diego, Gallery Anuska
Samobor, Gallery Matijaš
Pula, Exhibition Salon
Poreč, Gallery of the Open University
Dubrovnik, Gallery if the International Slavic Centre

1987
Niš, Gallery of Contemporary Art
Aranđelovac, Exhibition Pavilion Knjaz Miloš
Sarajevo, Museum of the 14th Winter Olympic Games

1988
Banja Luka, Art Gallery
Zagreb, Gallery Forum
Tivat, Gallery Tivat
Rijeka, Gallery Gradina Trsat
Krapina, Culture Centre, Gallery Ivica Božić

1989
Paris, Yugoslav Culture Centre

1990
Rab, Gallery PIK
Krk, Gallery Decumanus

1991
Stuttgart, Galerie Experiment

1993
Varaždin, Gallery Doraart

1994
Rijeka, Gallery Arh

1995
Trogir, Gallery Svi Sveti
Budapest, Mucsarnok Palace (together with Murtić, Šiško, Keser, Šebalj and Labaš)

1996
Novi Vinodolski, Gallery Turnac
Zagreb, Galeria Arteria

1997
Dubrovnik, Art Gallery
Zagreb, Croatian Museum of Architecture, Exhibition of newly elected members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts
Široki Brijeg, Franciscan Gallery, Exhibition of newly elected members of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts

1998
Zagreb, Croatian Artists’ Association, Nives Kavurić Kurtović / 35 Years in Service of the Eighth Sense
Split, Gallery Kula
Zagreb, Gallery Dubrava

1999
Ankara, Galeria Fahri Korutürk, State Museum of Painting and Sculpture
Makarska, Gallery Gojak
Kaštel Novi, Gallery Studin, Čipiko Tower
Rijeka, Gallery Kortil

2000
Venice, Magazzini del Sale
Gospić, Museum of Lika

2002
Veli Lošinj, Gallery Kula
Bjelovar, City Museum

2003
Zagreb, Gallery Canvas
Zadar, Art Gallery of the Zadar National Museum, City Lodge, Nives Kavurić Kurtović / A Retrospective 1962–2003
Osijek, Art Salon Vernissage

2004
Rijeka, Gallery Arh
Stari Grad, Island of Hvar, Gallery Sv. Jerolim

2008
Rijeka, Gallery Arh

2010
Virovitica, City Museum

2012
Novi Vinodolski, City Gallery Turnac
Zagreb, Department of Prints and Drawings of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Pola stoljeća nakon / Half a Century Later

2013
Rijeka, Gallery Kortil
Zagreb, M. J. Zagorka Library
Split, Old City Hall

2014
Venice, Gallery Ikona
Zagreb, Gallery Mala

2015
Labin, City Gallery
Split, Art Gallery

2016
Zagreb, Gallery Klovićevi dvori, Putovanje zakucima trajanja / Travelling through Nooks of Duration

2017
Šibenik, Gallery Sv. Krševan
Rab, Gallery PIK
Varaždin, Gallery Zlatni angel
Vienna, Gallery Bildraum
Rijeka, Gallery Kortil

2018
Opatija, Art Pavilion Juraj Šporer

2020
Crikvenica, City Gallery
Kaštel-Lukšić, City Museum

2021
Osijek, Gallery Waldinger