Marjan Pogačnik

Marjan Pogačnik

ravljičnost", "ljudska umetnost", "čipke" in "pretanjene tehnike ljubljanske grafične
šole" so štiri označbe, ki jih je mogoče najti - velikokrat vse skupaj, vedno pa vsaj kakšno
od njih - v skoraj vsakem sestavku o Marjanu Pogačniku.
So vse skupaj zgolj klišeji, pečati, s kakršnimi pisci slejkoprej opremijo vsakega umetni-
ka in ga tako pakiranega dostavijo občinstvu? Kakor v večini primerov je odgovor da in
ne in tudi zato si je vsako od označb vredno vsaj nahitro ogledati.
"Pravljičnost" je očitna tako v vsebinskem kakor v likovnem smislu. V vsebinskem tudi
zato, ker se je Pogačnik v marsikaterem delu očitno (čeprav praviloma le od daleč)
naslanjal na motiviko iz pravljic, pa tudi, ker je v pravljico znal spremeniti vsak še tako
vsakdanji motiv. Takšno je npr. njegovo Jutro v predmestju iz leta 1955, ki pa hkrati tudi
opozarja, da pri upodabljanju tovrstne motivike Pogačnik ni bil edini. Podobna dela je
v istem času, v drugi polovici petdesetih let in pozneje, ustvarjalo še več umetnikov (med
njimi je bil Pogačniku morda še najbolj soroden Karel Zelenko), ki jih danes običajno
uvrščamo v povojni intimizem - seveda pa je tudi ta označba poenostavljena, saj zajema
ustvarjalce, ki so bili zapriseženi individualisti.
"Ljudska umetnost" je v tem času igrala enako osvobajajočo vlogo kakor "pravljičnost".
V Pogačnikovem primeru so njeni odmevi nedvomni, seveda pa so enako nedvomni tudi v
primeru številnih drugih umetnikov. (Pri tem pa je zanj značilno, da je poznal tudi tradi-
cionalne tehnike, ki jih drugi praviloma niso: Slovenski kmečki pejsaž iz leta 1959 s svojim
nenavadnim indigo/belim barvnim akordom npr. opozarja, da je avtorja za trenutek

Konji (detajl grafike), 21,2 x 24,9 cm, jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1957

pritegnil modrotisk, v osnovi stara vzhodnjaška tehnika barvanja tkanin, ki je bila v
Evropi - in seveda tudi pri nas - še zlasti priljubljena v osemnajstem in v devetnajstem
stoletju.) Vendar njegove pobude niso prihajale samo iz tradicionalne folkloristike:
Ob tabornem ognju (1949) obuja spomine na predvojno Hegedušićevo Zemljo in na njene
predhodnike, z marsikatero likovno tradicijo ljudske umetnosti pa se je umetnik tudi
neprestano bodel. To še zlasti velja za simetričnost: v poznejših obdobjih je Pogačnik
vedno znova skrbno gradil tovrstne kompozicije in jih potem (ponavadi s pomočjo
barvnih centrov) vedno znova enako skrbno razbijal, dinamiziral.

"Čipke" so med vsemi standardnimi označbami Pogačnikovega opusa morda najbolj
nevarna. Asociacijo velik del njegovih stvaritev sproža skoraj avtomatično, po drugi
strani pa ga prav ta označba spreminja v nekakšnega v začarani grad varno spravljenega
Trnuljčka. Nevarnosti se je očitno zavedal tudi sam in zato na več delih opozoril, da
ga ni mogoče reducirati zgolj na krhko in občutljivo dušo: na Cesti iz leta 1969 je npr.
krepko, skoraj akcijsko zaoral prek kompozicije, sestavljene iz svojih značilnih
elementov - kakor bi hotel reči, naj mu končno že dajo mir s temi čipkami.

In ljubljanska grafična šola in njena tehnična pretanjenost? Od vseh označb je ta še
najbolj trdna. Pogačnik je bil - pa če je to hotel ali ne - eden ključnih členov šole:
temelje, ki sta jih postavila Božidar Jakac in Riko Debenjak, je obogatene z novimi
spoznanji kot profesor na ljubljanski likovni akademiji posredoval mlajšim rodovom.
Pretanjenost je pri tem znova bila dvojna, likovna, o kateri sem vsaj nekaj povedal v
prejšnjih odstavkih, in tehnična. V jedkanici, ki jo je končno stopnjeval v tehniko
reliefnega tiska, je Pogačnik dosegel stopnjo popolnosti, o kateri ne nazadnje pričajo
številne narodne in mednarodne nagrade, tudi obe Prešernovi, ki sta temeljni povod
za tokratno kranjsko razstavo.

Lev Menaše

arjan Pogačnik se sam nikoli ni prišteval med člane Ljubljanske grafične šole. Kot Šola
ta seveda nikoli ni obstajala, pojmujemo jo kot skupino grafikov, kot zgodovinski pojav v
umetnosti določenega prostora in časa, tako kot imenujemo predstavnike regionalnih
slogovnih usmeritev v zgodovini umetnosti sicer. Zato, če hoče ali ne, sodi med predstavnike
dveh ali treh generacij, ki so grafično umetnost v Ljubljani dvignili na mednarodno pre-
poznavno in celo vpadljivo raven. Njegovo izjemnost pa podpira grafična tehnika, ki se
bistveno razlikuje od modernističnih grafičnih tehnik po sredini dvajsetega stoletja.
Razvijal jo je sam, v tandemu s svojo življenjsko spremljevalko Bogico Avčin Pogačnik.

Kar nekaj najvidnejših predstavnikov Ljubljanske grafične šole se je izpopolnjevalo v
ateljeju Johnyja Friedlaenderja. Ta šola je močno zaznamovala tudi ljubljansko skupino z
nezapisano zapovedjo eksperimentiranja, ki je v procesualnost barvne jedkanice vnašala
slučajnost in s tem beleženje nezavednega. Pogačnikova tehnika pa je povsem drugače
utemeljena. Njena najpomembnejša značilnost je kontrola procesa od zasnove motiva, preko
priprave plošče, do tiska. V tem strogo nadzorovanem procesu je ustvaril nenavaden,
oseben in prepoznaven grafični slog, odgovoril pa je tudi na zahtevo po inovaciji tako, da
je njegova različica jedkanice našla svoje mesto v svetovnih priročnikih grafičnih tehnik.

To iskanje lastne in prepoznavne izvedbene manire je hodilo z roko v roki z iskanjem
avtentične motivike. Pogačnik je predstavnik najstarejše povojne generacije slovenskih
umetnikov, ki so svoje ustvarjalno iskanje zastavili tik pred in med drugo svetovno vojno,
oblikovali pa so ga na novoustanovljeni domači likovni akademiji. Ko so ti slikarji stopili
na samostojno pot, je bil njihov prvi odgovor na ideološko tiranijo socialističnega realizma
"notranja" emigracija - umik v subjektivne, intimne svetove, ki se lepo ujame s sočasnim
ustvarjanjem v literaturi, še posebej v poeziji, od koder prevzemamo to oznako. Vprašanje
avtohtonosti in avtentičnosti ustvarjanja je bilo za to generacijo najpomembnejši problem:
opredeliti genius loci dežele med Alpami in Jadranom, ki je trmasto vztrajala pri gradnji svoje
identitete v sicer reformirani, a ideološko nič manj opresivni mnogonacionalni državi, se je
zdela zelo važna, če ne primarna kulturna naloga.

Pogačnik, ki je svoje samoiniciativne ustvarjalne poskuse v poznih tridesetih letih navezoval
na zemljaško družbenokritično estetiko, se je lahko zgledoval pri članih skupine Zemlja in
pri slovenskih slikarjih, predstavnikih Neodvisnih, še posebej pri Maksimu Sedeju in Francetu
Miheliču, diplomantih zagrebške akademije, ki so njeno socialno kritično ost zanesli tudi
v naš kulturni prostor. Poznal jih je osebno iz druščine svojega strica Ivana Zormana,
ravnatelja Narodne galerije. Že tedaj opazna lirična nota se mu je prelila v petdesetih letih
v otožne motive deklic na oknih, cvetočih gredic, ptičic in zaspanih mucev v brezčasnem
prostoru imaginarnih predmestij, marginalnih, vmesnih krajev, ki naj bi še obstajali in je
vanje mogoče pobegniti s Pegazovo pomočjo. V njih se najbolje pokaže kolektivni generacij-
ski interes, ki pa ga je Pogačnik presegel okoli leta 1960, ko je svoje lirične in z nostalgijo
napolnjene suhe igle nadgradil v jedkanice, mislim da predvsem zaradi večjih formatov.

Nekje med Konjički, 1957, Kmečkim pejsažem in Oholostjo, obe iz leta 1959, se je zgodil bistveni
premik, ko je vegetacijske motive oblikoval v nekakšno steblovje in vejevje obdano z "ivjem".
Ta motiv je imel povsem pod nadzorom, česar pri "bradi" v suhi igli ni bilo mogoče doseči, pa
tudi brada se je s tiskanjem obrabila in je od likovnega izrazila ostala samo suha črta. Zato
je Pogačnik pri suhih iglah ločeval zgodnje in pozne odtise. Prvi list, ki odpira pot do velikih
črno-belih grafik zgodnjih šestdesetih let je Osamljenost, 1959. Tedaj je svojo jedkanico
razširil še s slepim tiskom, ki je terjal globlje jedkanje. Tu pa se je začela odpirati tehnična
problematika, saj je bilo treba najti način nadzora kemičnega procesa samega. Kislina v
materialu deluje v vseh smereh enakomerno in bi ob običajnem poteku izpodjedla tudi
robove protikorozijsko zavarovanih površin. Zato jedkanje ni več potekalo v kadi, temveč z
oblivanjem plošč v vertikalnem položaju.

Kombinacija slepega tiska in selektivno črniljenih delov kompozicije je dozorela v
mojstrovinah kot so Močvirsko brstje, 1961, Potopljeno drevo, 1961, ali Rosna noč, 1964. Tako kot že
nekatere zgodnje suhe igle je Pogačnik tudi te včasih tiskal kot reliefno grafiko - lesorez,
kar je dalo zanimive grafične rešitve, nikakor pa ne rezultatov enakovrednih prvotnim
zasnovam. Pomemben pa je bil način visokega tiska pri vpeljavi barve v grafiko. V nasprotju
z globokim tiskom (intaglio), ki zahteva za vsako barvo ločeno ploščo in sistem za eksaktno
nastavljanje listov ob pretisku s pomočjo "pasarjev", je Pogačnik razvil način nanosa barve
na ločene površine na isti plošči. Z enkratnim odtisom je odtisnil relief in celotno barvno
kompozicijo, ki jo je mogoče spreminjati z vsakim odtisom.

Kolikor si je kritika zgodnje modernistične grafike trudila utemeljevati originalnost in
unikatnost vsakega odtisa, se je znašla v precepu nepomirljivih nasprotij. Grafika terja
ponovljivost odtisa, ki pa naj bo vseeno "unikaten". Rešitev je ponudila s sistemom označe-
vanja - signatur, edicij in oštevilčenja znotraj vsake serije. Pogačnikovi odtisi se praviloma
razlikujejo po barvnih kompozicijah znotraj serij avtorskih poskusnih odtisov (artist's proof,
épreuve d'artiste). Zavrženi poskusni slepi tiski z oznakami za barvno kompozicijo kažejo, kako
sistematično je Pogačnik študiral barvno kompozicijo, ki je nato za končno edicijo morala
ostati nespremenljiva.

Ob prehodu k barvni grafiki se je Pogačnikov likovni repertoar sestavil v pravcati besed-
njak piktogramov, ki pa so vseeno ostali preveč kriptični, da bi lahko omogočili nedvoumno
branje njegovega vizualnega sporočila. Ostal pa je to svet tistega intimističnega
pribežališča iz petdesetih let, ki ga je umetnik ustvaril s Pogačnikovo hišo na Teslovi 2 v
Ljubljani. Obdajal jo je pravcati botanični vrt preprostih, vsakdanjih, a avtohtonih cvetlic,
in po njem so se sprehajali muci iz soseske, ki so imeli vedno polno skledo na pragu. Hiša pa
je bila polna ne le umetnin iz različnih obdobij, temveč najrazličnejših kuriozitet, kot je
izjemna zbirka slovenske keramike, obsežna zbirka podobic iz minulih treh stoletij, kjer
pozornost pritegnejo še posebej tiste s čipkastimi bordurami, čipke, tekstilni vzorci iz
Avčinove predvojne trgovine, prodniki z vzorci, ki so jih vanje vtisnili morski mehkužci,
izglajeni kosi lesa z morske obale in še in še. Mnogi od teh kurijev razodevajo oblikovno
afiniteto s Pogačnikovimi grafičnimi listi. In če se spomnimo še umetelno izrezanih papirnih
prtičkov, ki jih je Pogačnik kot otrok strigel iz papirja, se nam izčisti tudi njegov kredo o
umetniškem ustvarjanju. Ustvarjanje je del narave, je spontana dejavnost umetnikove
notranjosti in daru, da jo izrazi, tako kot lahko prepozna posebno vrednost v lepoti
naravnih tvorb.

Ko pa je treba poskrbeti za njegovo reifikacijo, je ta podrejena najstrožji disciplini in
tehniki, prirejeni njenemu namenu. Risarski drobci se postopno sestavljajo v večje enote, ki
ob zadostni zaokroženosti preidejo v kolažiranje kompozicije, močno poenostavljene z repro-
dukcijskimi tehničnimi pripomočki (fotografija, xerox). V tej fazi dokončano zasnovo je
umetnik najprej povečeval in reduciral, da bi ujel primerno merilo in ko je to določil, je
zasnovo prenesel v kontrastno črno-belo risbo, predlogo za film. Celuloidni negativ je nato
uporabil za impregnacijo cinkove plošče, ki jo je jedkal 1,5 mm globoko. Tako pripravljeno
ploščo je odtisnil v slepem tisku, ki mu je služil za pripravo barvne kompozicije. Barvo je
nanašal z majhnimi valji na detajle kompozicije in nato je grafiko odtisnil na namočen list. Po
odtisu je bilo treba za vsak nadaljnji odtis ponoviti postopek nanašanja barve. Ves proces je
ostal natančno zabeležen z navodili za jedkanje, številkami in vzorci barv, z navodili za
namakanje papirja in za obremenitev stiskalnice. Poudariti pa je treba, da je v izvedbenem
delu, s farmacevtsko natančnostjo in s kritiškimi odzivi velik del naloge izpeljala Bogica
Avčin Pogačnik. V tem pa se pokaže trdovratnost še enega vidika značaja grafike, ki je bila
vedno kolektivni proces. Tu se je prav ta kolektivni značaj obdržal v zenitu modernizma, ki
je eksaltiral individualnost stvaritve. Dober grafični list je ostal kolektivno delo.

Andrej Smrekar

Biografija

Marjan Pogačnik se je rodil leta 1920 v Ljubljani. Leta 1936 je začel intenzivneje
risati kot samouk. V študijskem letu 1940/41 se je vpisal na umetnostno zgodovino
na Univerzi v Ljubljani. Leta 1945 je bil mobiliziran v JNA, toda že jeseni istega leta
je bil zaradi študija demobiliziran in v študijskem letu 1946/47 se je vpisal na
Akademijo za upodabljajočo umetnost. Leta 1947 je diplomiral iz umetnostne
zgodovine na Filozofski fakulteti v Ljubljani, nato pa je nadaljeval študij slikarstva
pri profesorju Gabrijelu Stupici na Akademiji za upodabljajočo umetnost v
Ljubljani. Iz slikarstva je diplomiral leta 1949, leta 1951 pa je zaključil slikarsko spe-
cialko na Akademiji za upodabljajočo umetnost v Ljubljani. V letih 1962-1979 je
poučeval grafiko na Akademiji za likovno umetnost v Ljubljani, v letih 1972-1981 pa
je bil tudi član Umetnostne komisije Narodne galerije v Ljubljani.

Leta 1963 je prejel nagrado Prešernovega sklada za leto 1962 za grafični opus, leta
1977 pa Jakopičevo nagrado za grafični opus. Leta 1986 je prejel še Prešernovo
nagrado za življenjsko delo. Njegov opus upoštevajo vsi pomembnejši pregledi sve-
tovne grafike, njegova grafika pa sodi med najboljše, kar je na tem področju nastalo
na Slovenskem. Umrl je leta 2005 v Ljubljani.

Marjan Pogačnik in njegova življenjska sopotnica Bogomila Avčin Pogačnik sta leta
2001 svojo umetniško zapuščino darovala Narodni galeriji.

Oholost, 27,3 x 32,5 cm, jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1959

Priložene reprodukcije

Jutro v predmestju, 16,3 x 19,8 cm, suha igla - globoki tisk, 1955
Junaka iz narodne pesmi, 22,4 x 26,3 cm, jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1957
Kmečki pejsaž, 29 x 24,6 cm, jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1959
Močvirsko brstje, 36,8 x 32,1 cm, reliefna jedkanica - globoki tisk, 1961
Zbogom vrtovi!, 64,5 x 45 cm, reliefna barvna jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1965
Srečanje v maju, 60 x 47 cm, reliefna barvna jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1971
Pod istim nebom, 60,6 x 49,8 cm, reliefna barvna jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1975
Nekega jutra, 60,8 x 49,9 cm, reliefna barvna jedkanica - visoki tisk, 1980

Galerija Prešernovih nagrajencev
za likovno umetnost Kranj

Glavni trg 18, 4000 Kranj, 04/202 57 16
www.gpn.kranj.si
[email protected]

Vodja galerije: Marko Arnež ● Organizacija: Marko Arnež, mag. Barbara Kalan, Petra Polak
Izdal: Gorenjski muzej, www.gorenjski-muzej.si - zanj: mag. Barbara Ravnik Toman

Besedilo: dr. Lev Menaše in dr. Andrej Smrekar ● Prevod: Jana Kranjec Menaše in Andrej Grah Whatmough ● Korekture: Tina Šubic
Fotografija: Marko Tušek, Tihomir Pintar ● Oblikovanje: Marko Tušek
Tisk: Tiskarna GTO Košir ● Naklada: 300 izvodov

Razstava je nastala v sodelovanju z Narodno galerijo.

Pokrovitelj razstave je Gorenjska banka, d. d..

Za finančno pomoč se zahvaljujemo
dr. Mihi Trampužu.

Delovanje galerije omogoča Mestna občina Kranj.

Kranj, september 2009



airy tale atmosphere", "folk art", "lacework", and "the refined techniques of the Ljubljana
School of Graphic Art" are the four denotations which can be found - often all of them
together, but always at least one of them - in nearly every text on Marjan Pogačnik.

Are all of these merely clichés, stamps with which authors sooner or later mark every
artist and deliver him/her, thus packaged, to the art public? Like in most cases, the
answer is yes and no, and it is also for this reason that each of the denotations is worth
a quick look-over.

The "fairy tale atmosphere" is obvious so in the sense of the contents as in the sense of the
visual expression. In the sense of the contents, because Pogačnik in many of his works appar-
ently leaned against (although usually only from afar) fairy tale motifs, but also because
he had the ability to transform any, even the most ordinary, motif into a fairy tale. Such
is e. g. his Jutro v predmestju / Morning in the Suburbs from 1955, which at the same time draws
attention to the fact that in the depiction of such motifs, Pogačnik was not alone. At the
same time, in the second half of the 1950s and later on, similar works were being created by
a few other artists ( among them, the most similar to Pogačnik was Karel Zelenko), who are
nowadays classified as representatives of postwar intimism - this denotation, of course,
being oversimplified, since it relates to artists who were sworn individualists.

"Folk art" at the time played a similarly liberating role as did the "fairy tale atmosphere".
In Pogačnik's case, its reflections are undeniable, but of course they are just as undeni-
able in the cases of numerous other artists. (But it is characteristical of him that he was
also well acquainted with the traditional techniques, which as a rule was not true with
other artists: Slovenski kmečki pejsaž / Slovene Rural Landscape from 1959, with its unusual indi-
go/white colour accord, e. g., hints that the author was briefly drawn to the blueprint-
ing, basically an old Eastern technique of fabric dying which was particularly popular in
Europe - and of course also in our lands - in the 18th and 19th centuries.) His ideas, how-
ever, did not arise solely from the traditional folklorism: Ob tabornem ognju / By Camp Fire
(1949) evokes memories of the prewar Hegedušić's Zemlja / Earth and its predecessors, while
at the same time the artist was fighting a continuous battle against a number of visual
conventions of folk art. This is particularly true of the symmetry: in his subsequent peri-
ods, Pogačnik repeatedly carefully designed such compositions, in order to later on (usu-
ally by means of creating colour centres) equally carefully dismantle and dynamize them
again and again.

"Lacework" is probably the most risky amongst all of the standard denotations of
Pogačnik's opus. A large part of his works of art almost automatically initiate this associ-
ation, but on the other hand this very denotation turns him into some kind of Sleeping
Beauty, safely protected in an enchanted castle. He was himself apparently aware of this
risk, and therefore in a few of his works provided warnings against being reduced merely
to a fragile, sensitive soul: in his Cesta / Road from 1969, e. g., he strongly, almost action-

like ploughed through the composition, compounded of his characteristic elements - as if
he were to say, do finally stop bothering me with your lacework.

And the Ljubljana School of Graphic Art with its technical refinement? This is the most
solid of all the denotations. Pogačnik was - whether he wanted it or not - one of its key mem-
bers: as a Professor of the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts, he was conveying to younger
generations the foundations, earlier created by Božidar Jakac and Riko Debenjak, and then
enriched by his own new findings. The refinement of this process was double: visual, which
was at least partly described in the above paragraphs, and technical. With the etching,
which Pogačnik finally enhanced to the technique of relief print, he acquired the stage of
perfection which, last but not least, was acknowledged by numerous national and interna-
tional awards, including the two Prešeren Awards which (as is usual in this gallery) rep-
resent the basic cause for this exhibition in Kranj.

Lev Menaše

arjan Pogačnik never considered himself to be a member of the Ljubljanska grafična
šola/Ljubljana School of Graphic Art. This School as such never existed, the expression
merely denotes a group of graphic artists, a historic phenomenon in the art of a certain
space and time period, just as in art history members of regional style orientations are often
denominated. Therefore, whether he agrees or not, he belongs among the representatives
of the two or three generations who raised the graphic art of Ljubljana to an interna-
tionally recognizable, and even highly noticeable level. The exceptionality of his work is
due to his graphic technique, which differs essentially from other modernist graphic tech-
niques of the period following the mid-1920s. He had developed it himself, in cooperation
with his lifelong companion Bogica Avčin Pogačnik.

A considerable number of the most important representatives of the Ljubljana School of
Graphic Art were perfecting their skills in the studio of Johny Friedlaender. This school
strongly marked the Ljubljana group by its unwritten command to experiment, which intro-
duced chance into the processing of colour etching, and therewith the annotation of the
unconscious. Pogačnik's technique, however, has an entirely different basis. Its most impor-
tant characteristic is the control of the process, from the motif scheme through the plate
preparation to the print. Through this strictly controlled process he created an unusual,
personal and recognizable style, having also complied to the requirement of innovation, so
that his variant of the etching found its place in world manuals of graphic techniques.

This search for a personal, recognizable manner of technical execution marched hand in hand
with the search for authentic motifs. Pogačnik is a representative of the oldest postwar gen-
eration of Slovene artists, who had begun their creative search just before and between the

Second World War, and had molded it at the newly established Slovene Academy of Fine
Arts. When these painters set out on their independent paths, their first response to the ide-
ological tyranny of socialist realism was "inner" emigration - a withdrawal to subjective, inti-
mate worlds, corresponding well to the contemporary creation in literature, particularly
poetry, whence this denotation is borrowed. The issues of autochthonousness and authen-
ticity of creation were the most important problems for this generation: to define the genius
loci of the country between the Alps and the Adriatic, which stubbornly insisted to shape its
own identity in a somewhat reformed, but ideologically no less oppressive multinational
state, seemed to be a very important, if not primary cultural task.

Pogačnik, who in the late 1930s used to link his self-initiated creative attempts to the
socially critical aesthetics of the group Zemlja / Earth, could, apart from this group, fol-
low the example of the Slovene painters who were representatives of the Neodvisni /
Independent, especially Maksim Sedej and France Mihelič, graduates of the Zagreb Academy
of Fine Arts, the socially critical sting of which was thus transferred to our cultural
space. He was personally acquainted with them through the social circle of his uncle Ivan
Zorman, the director of the National Gallery. His even then noticeable lyrical disposition
in the 1950s found its expression in melancholy motifs of girls at windows, flower beds, tiny
birds and drowsy cats in the timeless space of imaginary suburbs, marginal, intermediate
places which supposedly still exist, and into which one might still be able to retreat with
Pegasus' help. These motifs best illustrate the collective interests of the generation,
which, however, Pogačnik surpassed about 1960, when his lyrical and nostalgic drypoints
were upgraded to etchings, primarily, I believe, because of larger formats.

Somewhere between the Konjički / Small Horses, 1957, Kmečki pejsaž/Rural Landscape and
Oholost / Pride, both from 1959, an essential shift occured when he started shaping vegeta-
tion motifs into stalks and branches of some sort, covered by "white frost". He had this
motif under complete control, which he could not achieve with the drypoint because of the
"beard", which also got worn out with the printing, and all that remained of the means of
visual expression was the dry line. This is why Pogačnik in the case of the drypoints used
to distinguish the early prints from the late ones. The first print which paved the way for
the large black and white prints of the early 1960s was Osamljenost / Loneliness, 1959. It was
then that he further expanded his etching with the blind printing, which required deeper
etching. This resulted in the occurence of new technical problems, as a manner of con-
trolling the chemical process itself had to be found. The acid in the material functions
evenly in all directions, and in its normal course it would also corrode the edges of sur-
faces protected against corrosion. Therefore the etching no longer took place in a tub,
but was performed by flushing plates in the vertical position.

The combination of blind printing with the selectively inked parts of the composition
ripened in the masterpieces such as Močvirsko brstje / Marsh Buds, 1961, Potopljeno drevo / Sunken
Tree, 1961, or Rosna noč / Dewy Night, 1964. Similarly to some early drypoints, Pogačnik at times
printed these as relief prints - woodcuts, which provided for interesting graphical solu-
tions, but by no means gave results equal to the original concepts. But the manner of relief
printing was important for the introducing of colour to graphic prints. In contrast to
intaglio, which demands a separate plate for each colour, and a system for the precise plac-
ing of sheets at over-printing by using paper strips to keep them in place, Pogačnik developed

a way of applying colour onto separate surfaces of the same plate. By a singular printing
he printed the relief and the entire colour composition, which could be altered with every
print.

Much as the criticism of early modernist graphic art strived to argument the originality
and uniqueness of each print, it was driven into a corner of unappeasable contradictions.
Graphic art demands the print to be repeatable, but nevertheless "unique". The solution was
found in the system of marking - by signatures, editions, and numbers within each series.
Pogačnik's prints as a rule differ in colour compositions also within the series of artist's
proofs / épreuves d'artiste. The discarded proof blind prints, bearing marks of the colour com-
position, show how systematically Pogačnik studied the colour composition, which then
had to remain unchangeable for the final edition.

With the transition to colour graphics, Pogačnik's visual repertoire constituted a verita-
ble vocabulary of pictographs, which nevertheless remained too cryptical to make possible
the unambiguous reading of his visual message. But his world remained the world of that
intimist refuge from the 1950s, which the artist had created with his house at Teslova
(street) 2 in Ljubljana. It was surrounded by a genuine botanical garden of simple, ordinary,
but autochthonous flowers, in which neighbourhood cats used to stroll and for whom
there was always a bowl of food waiting at the threshold. The house itself was full of not
merely art works from various periods, but also all kinds of curiosities, such as the excep-
tional collection of Slovene ceramics, a large collection of holy images from the previous
three centuries, among which special attention was drawn to those trimmed with lace, lace-
work, textile patterns from Avčin's prewar shop, gravel-stones with imprinted patterns of
sea molluscs, smooth pieces of wood from the sea beach, and many more. Many of these
curiosities reveal an affinity in form with Pogačnik's prints. And if we furthermore recall
the skilfully clipped paper napkins that Pogačnik as a child used to cut out of paper, his
credo about artistic creation is crystallized. Creation is part of the nature, it is a sponta-
neous activity of an artist's inner self and of his gift to express it, just as he can recognize
the special value of the beauty of natural formations.

When, however, it is necessary to see to its reification, it is subject to the strictest disci-
pline and technique, arranged according to its purpose. Drawing fragments gradually com-
pose larger units, which, when sufficiently rounded-up, transform into collage-like compo-
sitions, highly simplified by technical media of reproduction (photograph, xerox). The
design completed in this phase was first magnified and reduced by the artist in order to
obtain a suitable scale, and when the latter was determined, the design was transformed
into a contrasting black-and-white drawing, representing the basis of film. The celluloid
negative was then used for the impregnation of the zinc plate, which was etched 1,5 mm deep.
The thus prepared plate was used to make a blind print, which then served to prepare the
colour composition. Colour was applied to the details of the composition by means of small
cylinders, then the graphic was printed upon a soaked sheet of paper. After each print, the
procedure of applying colour had to be repeated for every further print. The entire
process remains precisely described, with instructions for the etching, numbers, and colour
samples, for the soaking of paper and for the pressure of the press. It should, however, be
emphasized that the execution of the work itself was, with pharmaceutical accuracy and

critical suggestions, to a large degree performed by Bogica Avčin Pogačnik. This indicates
the obstinacy of another aspect of the character of graphic art, which has always been a
collective creative process. It was here that this collective character was preserved at the
zenith of modernism, which was promoting the individuality of creation. A high quality
graphic print remains a collective creation.

Andrej Smrekar

Biography

Marjan Pogačnik was born in Ljubljana in 1920. In 1936 he started drawing intensively as
a self-taught artist. In the school year 1940/41 he began to study art history at the
University of Ljubljana. In 1945 he was mobilized into the Yugoslav National Army, but
was demobilized in the Autumn of the same year due to his studies, and in 1946/47 regis-
tered as a student of the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1947 he graduated in art history at
the Faculty of Fine Arts, and continued to study painting with Professor Gabrijel
Stupica at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. He graduated in painting in 1949, and
completed his specialization in painting in 1951. In the years 1962 to 1979, he was a teacher
of graphic art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, and from 1972 to 1981 he was also
a member of the Art Commission of the National Gallery in Ljubljana.

In 1963 he received the Prešeren Fund Award for his graphic art opus from 1962, and in
1977 the Jakopič Award for his graphic art opus. In 1986, he received the Prešeren Award
for Life Achievement. His work is registered in all major surveys of world graphic art,
and belongs among the best created in this field of visual art in Slovenia. He died in
Ljubljana in 2005.

Marjan Pogačnik and his lifelong companion Bogomila Avčin Pogačnik in 2001 bestowed
their art legacy to the National Gallery.

List of illustrations:

Morning in the Suburbs, 16,3 x 19,8 cm, drypoint - intaglio, 1955
Folk Song Heroes, 22,4 x 26,3 cm, etching - relief print, 1957
Rural Landscape, 29 x 24,6cm, etching - relief print, 1959
Marsh Buds, 36,8 x 32,1 cm, relief etching - intaglio, 1961
Goodbye, Gardens!, 64,5 x 45 cm, relief colour etching - relief print, 1965
Encounter in May, 60 x 47 cm, relief colour etching - relief print, 1971
Under the Same Sky, 60,6 x 49,8 cm, relief colour etching - relief print, 1975
On a Certain Morning, 60,8 x 49,9 cm, relief colour etching - relief print, 1980





















Ta publikacija
je v tiskani različici izšla
v obliki mape

(na fotografijah)