This winter, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag is to stage a major retrospective of Croatian painter Vlaho Bukovac, whose work has never before been shown in the Netherlands.

Vlaho Bukovac (1855-1922) was born in Cavtat, lived in America, Paris, Zagreb and Prague, and spent extended periods in England and Vienna. Wherever this versatile painter settled, he soon enjoyed fame and recognition. He staged successful exhibitions at several Paris Salons, the first Vienna Secession exhibition, the second and fourth Venice Biennale and the Paris World Exposition in 1900.

Bukovac was one of the few Slavonic artists to study at the École des Beaux Arts under the famous Alexandre Cabanel and the 1882 Salon was a real triumph for him. He showed La Grande Iza, a nude portrait of a coquettish Parisian woman, the heroine of a popular novel. This sensual, flesh-and-blood woman drew so much admiration that newspaper vendors cried his name on the boulevards of Paris. Bukovac’s success was not limited to France, however. He also managed to breakthrough in Britain, with the help of Vicars Brothers of London.

Bukovac painted portraits of Vicars’s clients, among them were two of the best patrons he would ever have: Samson Fox of Harrogate and Richard LeDoux of Liverpool. They treated him as a gentleman, lavished hospitality on him and introduced him to their families and circles of friends. Bukovac’s portraits of them reveal him at his best, as a sensitive and technically accomplished artist.   

This major retrospective of Vlaho Bukovac: A Cosmopolitan Croatian at the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag (26 September 2009 – 10 January 2010) is accompanied by a lavishly illustrated catalogue with contributions by Bukovac expert Igor Zidic.

Gemeentemuseum Den Haag website