Kregar was born on 10 November 1905 in Zapuže near Ljubljana and died on 1 August 1973 in Ljubljana. Having attended classical grammar school in Šentvid nad Ljubljano (episcopal institutes) and studies in theology in Ljubljana, he studied painting in Prague (1930-1935, in 1934-35 he was a post-graduate student in the class of Prof. M. Švabinsky). From 1935-45 he taught drawing at the Šentvid grammar school. He was a member of the Independents group (Neodvisni; he held the post of president in 1939). He travelled around France (for the first time in 1937 when he was inspired by the vicinity of the Spanish Civil War and Picasso's Guernica, he returned several times thereafter), Switzerland, Italy and Germany. After 1945 he stopped teaching and dedicated himself fully to painting. He decorated several churches with frescoes, sgraffito, mosaics and stained glass windows (after 1958). In 1971 he received the Prešeren Award for Life Achievements. On 6th February 1994 a permanent exhibition of the artist's legacy was opened in the renovated building of the Šentvid classical grammar school (now St. Stanislau's Institute in Ljubljana). Kregar in many instances influenced the development of Slovene painting: in the mid- 1930's he produced his own version of surrealism, while in 1953 he was the first to exhibit abstract colour compositions (stirring a heated debate), while in the 60's, when the Informel movement prevailed, he returned to figurative art.

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