Jakopič was born on 12th April 1869 and died on 21st April 1943 in Ljubljana. In 1887, in his sixth year of studies, he left vocational grammar school and, having successfully passed the entrance examination, enrolled at the Vienna academy in the autumn. Because of illness he returned home and then restarted his studies in 1888 (Prof. Rumpler); having <186>nished his second year of studies in Vienna, he enrolled at the Munich academy in the autumn of 1889. After leaving the Munich academy (1891), he regularly attended the Ažbe school of painting in Munich for two years until 1900; he attended at intervals, mainly in winter, for he lived in Ljubljana and painted in Stranska Vas near Dobrova, Mirje and Trnovo in Ljubljana either alone or with M. Jama. In spring 1902, they painted together in Čemahovci on the Sotla river. In 1900, he participated in the founding of the Slovene Art Society and organisation of the First Slovene Art Exhibition. He moved to Škofja Loka in 1902. In autumn 1903 he left for Prague, where he continued his studies at the Hynais school (for six months). In spring 1904 he travelled to Vienna for negotiations on the exhibition of works by Slovene impressionists. After the founding of the Sava Art Club (1904), the impressionists set up a successful exhibition in the Miethke salon in Vienna. In the same year he painted in the area around Škofja Loka with M. Sternen and I. Grohar. In 1906 he settled in Ljubljana. Together with M. Sternen, he established a drawing and painting school (1907), which he later ran on his own (1908-1914). In 1908 he started building an exhibition pavilion in Tivoli park (architect M. Fabiani), on land leased to him by the municipality. He opened it in 1909 with the Third Slovene Art Exhibition and between then and 1923, when he was forced to sell it to the city authorities due to financial problems, he organised 23 exhibitions there. In 1927 the National Gallery of Ljubljana set up an exhibition entitled Four Masters of Slovene Impressionism (R. Jakopič, M. Jama, M. Sternen, F. Vesel). His work earned him awards including the honorary diploma at the International Art and Technology Exhibition in Paris (1937) and he became a full member of the newly established Slovene Academy of Science and Art in Ljubljana (1938). The highest award given to visual artists in Slovenia (the Jakopič Award) has borne his name since 1969. In 1981, his heirs passed the artist's vast correspondence and the collection of works of the pupils from his drawing and painting school to the Moderna galerija (Museum of Modern Art) in Ljubljana. His works were recently noticed at the exhibition Europa, Europa (Das Jahrhundert der Avantgarde in Mittel- und Osteuropa) which took place in 1994 in Bonn. He produced a vast opus of paintings and drawings (landscapes, vedutas, interiors, genre and religious paintings, floral still-lifes), ranging in style from early Secessionist, lyrical and experimental studies of landscapes to mature impressionist works, which were followed by colourfully distinctive post-impressionist and expressionist works. With the masterpieces that he created, his active organisational work, writing and human kindness, he earned the central position in Slovene art of the first half of the 20th century.

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