Fran Stiplovšek (1898 - 1963)

Stiplovšek was born on 12 May 1898 in Malinska (on the island of Krk, Croatia) and died on 6 April 1963 in Brežice. He attended primary school in Barcola, near Trieste (1904-08) and grammar school in Trieste (1909-12) and Gorizia (1913-17). During this time he studied painting with Anton Gvajc in Gorizia (1912-14) and later in the private school of sculptor Ivan Rendić in Trieste (1917-18). Before he enrolled at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (1921-22), he worked in different places as a drawing teacher (1917 in Servola, near Trieste, 1918 in Barcola, 1919 in Völkermarkt, and 1920 in Maribor). In 1922/23 he studied painting at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts (Profs Ferdo Kovačević, Joza Kljaković, Tomislav Krizman, Makismiljan Vanka).
In 1924 he moved to Krško, where he continued working as a teacher. From 1925 to 1941 he taught drawing and descriptive geometry at the local town school, and then from 1945 to 1953 he taught at the local grammar school. In 1949 he became the caretaker and in 1953 the director of the Posavje Museum in Brežice, where he remained employed until his death.
He was the co-founder and secretary of the Grohar Club and one of the organisers of the first art exhibition in Maribor (1920). In 1924 he became member of Klub Mladih (Youth Club, founded with an exhibition of works by Kos, Pirant and Stiplovšek), and then in 1927 he became corresponding member of the Hagenbund art society in Vienna.
He was predominantly a painter, graphic artist (his favourite technique being woodblock), illustrator, art teacher and curator.