France Slana

Slovenia, 1926

BiographyFrance Slana graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana in 1949 where he studied under professors Gabriel Stupica and Nikolai Pirnat. His path to becoming an artist began in Ljubljana where he met Slovene graphic artist, illustrator, and caricaturist Hinko Smrekar (1883–1942), who taught drawing classes. He also apprenticed in the workshop of Yugoslavian realist painter Ivan Vaupotic. In 1942 he enrolled in the Kunstgewerbe Meisterschule in Graz but his studies were interrupted by the World War II. In 1944, he joined the partisans where he met artists Bozidar Jakac, Vit Globocnik and Ive Subic. After graduating from the academy, Slana spent his life as an illustrator and cartoonist for various newspapers. In 1964, he received the Prešeren Fund Award for the cycle of works of art dedecated to the consequences of the devastating earthquake of 1963.

His paintings are rooted in the Slovenian cultural environment. The most characteristic motifs - hayracks, barns, mills, wine cellars, interiors of old pubs and attics - are often ethnologically inspired. He is also well known for his bouquets, landscapes, intimate interiors, cocks, cats, fish. “A fish is a form of living creature that unites everything within a circle - body, head, arms, legs,” he said.

These motifs look fresh and interesting in the artist’s convincing expression. “Every creator can only express what he has inside him. The one who has nothing or has little begins to resort to fashion trends and packaging to hide his emptiness.” Early on, he followed the principle of finding new impulses in each painting and trying to avoid patterns. “I don’t let myself be molded into a single way of working, and because I’m very curious, I take different paths depending on my current interest and mood.”

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