Katalog Makuc - Po neba svetlih potih

Pokrajina z ženo, 1988,
barvne voščene krede in tuš na papirju,

71 x 50 cm

49Vladimir Makuc

Pokrajina s slikarjem, 1993,
disperzijska tempera, steklene črepinje,
barvne voščene krede in mivka na vezani plošči in lesu,
79 x 98 cm

Pokrajina z lastno podobo in modro ptico, 1993,
barvna suha igla in brus na papirju,
P 24 x 40,5 cm, L 40 x 60 cm

51Vladimir Makuc

Pokrajina s pticama, 1987,
disperzijska tempera, steklene črepinje, barvne voščene krede
in mivka na lesu, 45 x 75 cm

Ovna II (trk), 1994,
disperzijska tempera, steklene črepinje, barvne voščene krede

in mivka na platnu in lesu,
127 x 151 cm

53Vladimir Makuc

Škrjanci, 1999,
disperzijska tempera, mivka, črepinje in
barvne krede na papirju v lesenem okvirju,
113,5 cm x 85,5 cm

Pokrajina s ptiči, 2000,
disperzijska tempera, barvne voščene krede

in mivka na platnu in lesu,
170 x 120 cm

55Vladimir Makuc

Leda, 2001,
disperzijska tempera, steklene črepinje,
barvne voščene krede, mivka na lesu,
53 x 72 cm

Evropa I, 2000,
disperzijska tempera, steklene črepinje,
barvne voščene krede, mivka na platnu in lesu,

209 x 158 cm

57Vladimir Makuc

Brinovka, 2004,
disperzijska tempera, mivka, školjke
in kreda na platnu,
70 x 80 cm

Lera, 2005,
disperzijska tempera, mivka in

školjke na platnu,
100 x 100 cm

59Vladimir Makuc

Kormoran v Leri, 2005,
disperzijska tempera, mivka in
školjke na platnu v lesenem okvirju,
73,5 cm x 63,5 cm

Limosa, 2007,
disperzijska tempera, mivka, školjke in

perje na platnu v lesenem okvirju,
72,5 cm x 71 cm

61Vladimir Makuc

Kormoran, 2007,
disperzijska tempera, barvne krede
in školjke na platnu,
80 cm x 60 cm

Ptiča v solinah, 2005,
suha igla in brus na papirju,
P 38 x 31,5 cm, L 55,8 x 67,8 cm

63Vladimir Makuc

Vesolje z jato na zemlji, 2013,
disperzijska tempera, mivka in kolaž na platnu
v lesenem okvirju,
81 x 80,5 cm

Vesolje z jato, 2013,
disperzijska tempera, mivka in
kolaž na platnu v lesenem okvirju,
P 70 x 70 cm, L 81 x 81 cm

65Vladimir Makuc

Zlati kozmos, 2011,
disperzijska tempera, mivka, kolaž,
vrvica in žica na platnu,
100 x 70 cm

Mrtvaški ples, 2012,
akvarel, barvna kreda in kolaž na papirju,

105 x 75 cm

67Vladimir Makuc

Hermes kolesar, 2014,
barvna kreda in kolaž na papirju,
105 x 75 cm

Vesolje s popotnikom, 2015,
akvarel, barvne krede in svinčnik na papirju,

66 x 50 cm

69Vladimir Makuc

Miklavž Komelj

Four Aspects of Art
of Vladimir Makuc

1. The Scarab and the Webs of the World

On the lower part of the etching Landscape VIII (1979) by Vladimir Makuc is a
recognisable image of a scarab beetle with a ball - the ball which common eyes usu-
ally see as dung. However, the inspired Ancient Egyptians recognized it as the sun.
On Makuc' etchings the scarabaeus emerges from a web-like, squared pattern
which is not only a foundation, but a matrix that generates the beetle's body. The
scarab is created as some kind of a record which is assembled or pictured in dots.
On this same web letters of the alphabet appear likewise created in the manner of
dots in which we recognise the artist's monogram. A similar way of drawing can
be also found in the other artist's prints and drawings of that period; it appears this
was an upshot of the allure of novelty in art creation derived from computer gen-
erated script.

The upper part of the etching above the scarab is etched in very subtle dark grey
texture (such exquisite craftsmanship was at the time also the most recognisable
common denominator of the "Ljubljana Printmaking School"), which can be seen
as a close-up view of skin, maybe leather or cracked soil. This creates both a very
strong tactile effect and at the same time a sense of meditative silence which dom-
inates in a world without people. On one spot on this surface there is a deep
imprint of an ellipse with geometric forms as if this were a stencil used by a geo-
metrician. On the left margin of the print outside the inked area there is an
embossed abstract circular form.

The Ancient Egyptians saw in the scarabaeus a symbol of divinity which moves the
sphere of the Sun over the celestial arch. There is no direct allusion to Ancient
Egypt on Makuc' etching though the artist had visited Egypt. Nevertheless the way
in which the scarab appears in relation to certain structures - which we may com-
prehend as the generative model that instigated also the beetle's appearance - may
remind us of Egyptian themes which connect the scarab and the structure of the
Universe. This certainly isn't an illustration of a mythic religious concept - howev-
er there is a connection. The image of a tiny creature is set against an outline that
indicates the concept of the Universe. But what kind of a relation is this?

Mathematical schemes on Makuc' prints are sometimes connected to mechanical
themes - most often these are the wheels of clockwork mechanisms. The fragility
of lone creatures may in all this be seen as a contrast; however in the Italian cata-
logue of Makuc' exhibition with a wonderful title "La filigrana dell'incanto"
("Magic Art") Francesco Lista rejected the banal comments which would devalue
this contrast as some kind of generalised speculation: " Some speak of the accusa-
tion of industrialisation; but Makuc is a too sophisticated artist, therefore he trans-
lates even an accusation into the sublime."

There can be no simplified polarisation between the "natural" and the "artificial".

The man, who was maybe the most thorough observer of scarabs, the renowned
French entomologist and writer Jean-Henri Fabre in his paper on these beetles com-
pared their bodies to industrial mechanisms.

However there is a duality. But the basic disharmony which we feel in the rela-
tionship between living beings and man-made machines can be interpreted -
beyond the sentimental divination between the natural and artificial - by arguing
that man-made machines can never be as perfect as machines made by nature. In
contrast to the latter, man-made machines are mechanical only on the surface: this
is what Leibnitz deliberates in his Monadologie: "Thus every organized body of a
living thing is a kind of divine machine or natural automaton. It infinitely surpass-
es any artificial automaton, because a man-made machine isn't a machine in every
one of its parts. For example, a cog on a brass wheel has parts or fragments which
to us are no longer anything artificial, and bear no signs of their relation to the
intended use of the wheel, signs that would mark them out as parts of a machine.
But Nature's machines - living bodies are machines even in their smallest parts, right
down to infinity. That is what makes the difference between nature and artifice that
is, between Divine artifice and our artifice."

What makes these refined etchings so exciting is the free interpretation that they ren-
der: the painful tension between the anonymous cosmic forces which are expressed
through the mathematical schemes and the trembling of single living creatures is so
intense, because these images show how the cosmic forces generate these creatures.
They leave no space for metaphysical dualism and with this they intensely manifest
a leap that happens at the moment in which a new singular creature appears; the
leap shows that no creature can be reduced to the sum of elements and forces that
create it. A few circles assemble together concentrically, like the rings of a target -
and abruptly a bird is staring at us. All of a sudden a stare is here which by being
a stare no longer represents only a part of the constellation of the cosmic forces - it
becomes their new perception. A being created through the work of cosmic forces
becomes the foundation of a new perspective from which these forces are seen.
While the forces determine it, the being defines their constellation.

2. Self-portrait

Vladimir Makuc belongs to the generation which began its studies right after the
Second World War and reached its affirmation in the Nineteen Fifties. However
he only started exhibiting in the Sixties. He did show some of his first prints in
group exhibitions a little earlier, at the end of Nineteen Fifties, nevertheless his rel-
atively late public appearance never implied that something was lost, on the con-
trary it gave the impression that he is about a decade younger from "his" genera-
tion. His etchings which he begun exhibiting after he enriched his art studies from
Ljubljana with the experience of a two months sojourn in Paris and working in the
studio of Johnny Friedlander, brought to our artistic milieu amazing freshness. He
connected the Karst genius loci with his cosmopolitan Paris experience and his fil-
igree precision with Art Bruit.

The reason for Makuc' relatively late public appearance also hides in the fact that
before he devoted himself to printmaking (and later also to painting), he worked

71Vladimir Makuc

for several years as a copyist; he copied late Medieval frescoes for the National
Gallery in Ljubljana. In the new assembly of the permanent art collection of the
National Gallery in Ljubljana we can find quite a few of his copies of frescoes. At
the current exhibition at Ljubljana Castle (which prompted the issue of this cata-
logue) we can see a few of his smaller copies of frescoes, ( on one there are birds
and in the light of the artist's later work we might recognise a connection in their
stylisation to the birds which became undoubtedly an emblem to his work) and a
copy of a painting showing the mourning for the dead Christ which was painted in
the Seventeenth Century by an anonymous painter from Bologna. Once we are
familiar to the artist's later work we may state that both sides of his copying
announce something that the artist later on expressed in this body of work: on the
one hand the vehemence that doesn't shun even the most drastic stylisation (fres-
coes) and on the other the extreme sensibility and subtlety of light gradations (the
mourning for Christ). Both these elements often appear together on Makuc' works.
His period as a copyist did not hinder him in his artistic work, it enriched him and
gave him that selfless patience possessed by someone who delivers the messages
from another era. However the importance of his copyist period for his later work
can also be seen in something else. His stay in Hrastovlje where he copied the
newly discovered frescoes of Janez of Kastav left an indelible mark on him by
revealing a landscape which became emblematic for him - the Karst. ( At the time
of writing this text I visited the Karst region after a long absence on the occasion of
the ninetieth anniversary of the death of the poet Srečko Kosovel and have expe-
rienced just how mystical this landscape is.) It is fascinating how the Karst land-
scape and people - the archaically stylised Karst women from his early prints stare
at us like the faces on Coptic textiles - keep connecting with mysterious Gothic
stonecutting signs and the Glagolitic alphabet and also how they relate to the styli-
sations of the ancient painting which the artist was discovering at the time. The Sun
and the Moon that stare at us from many of his works are at times almost a direct
quotation from the frescoes of Janez of Kastav.

Everything in Makuc' work is interconnected through his personal experience; but
it is not something that forms a personal testimony, it is a dedication to something
beyond the personal. Francesco Lista wrote nicely about this that to Makuc art is
an absolute: "The narration seems to be turned inwards; materiality changed into
contemplation. It is participation in a mystery which is suffused by some hidden
music and is the ultimate symphony in the dialectics of the world."

The etching "Self Portrait" from 1969 consists of many plates printed on the same
sheet of paper. The portrait of the artist in a frame made of many small images
strikes us as the image of The Creator. There are more almost identically conceived
Makuc' etchings where the artist kept the frame made of many small images of the
Sun and clock-wheels but changed the central image. A bird for instance; it's as if
the artist placed his own image in the centre of his universe just to be able to show
that he can also replace it with a bird.

3. Birds

Makuc' works are deeply connected. This does not only mean that they supple-
ment each other but also that in many of them we may discover the whole universe
of his art. I would especially like to mention the picture Upupa epops from 1982

which is in possession of the artist's son. For a long time the artist was committed
only to graphic art, however this was not so much an auto-poetic decision of self
restriction as a restriction due to circumstances which wouldn't allow for other tech-
niques of expression; but in the early Nineteen-eighties the artist started to paint
intensively (he once described his sculptures as "three-dimensional" paintings),
which opened up for him new ways of expression. Upupa epops is the harbinger
of this transition.

Upupa epops - it is strange that this bird which according to Islamic tradition was
the messenger between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba (and which plays
a special role as a guide in Attar's mystic poem The Language of Birds) has such a
common name as smrdokavra (hoopoe) in the Slovenian language. However in
the ornithological guide which I leafed through in the artist's studio I was glad to
find there exist two subtler names for this bird: wild cockerel and golden cockerel.

It is fascinating how the artist managed to achieve on this painting a feeling of
extreme tactile intensity and at the same time a strong notion of untouchability.
From the technological point of view this painting possesses the whole array of
Makuc' painting techniques - from the subtle traces of a graphite pencil to sand and
glass shards.

The silhouette of the bird is depicted with tiny piercings on the surface which are
then processed with wax crayons and graphite pencil. The fine traces of the pencil
give a special sheen which enhances the untouchability. Upupa epops shivers like
a creature from another world. The shards of glass dug in the sand (an obvious allu-
sion to the glass shards on the top of walls so no one can climb them) form a dis-
tinct contrast to this fragility. However the shards are just as subtly treated; when
Makuc uses glass shards they are not just some randomly found objects integrated
into his paintings and sculptures. They are meticulously chosen art elements which
fit into the structure of the artwork with colour, lustre and reflections which the light
forms in them. Makuc used bottles which he found by chance and then broke
them into the pieces he needed. Yet after a more thorough observation I was smit-
ten: this extreme contrast - the subtle trace of the pencil and the sharpness of shards
- conveys an identical message of untouchability. The same "Noli me tangere".

These shards enlighten us how something can be untouchable at the price of blood.

4. The Dynamism

The relocation of the same elements into different spaces is very typical of Makuc'
work. His artwork is derived from the concrete nature of techniques and materials.
His work with materials is not only a simple use of these it is more like an encounter
with them. The process of Makuc' painting also includes the gathering of shells
and pieces of drift-wood on the sea-shore. Nevertheless the visions evoked by his
work are never limited by some technique or material, they migrate between them.
What seemed a specialisation in etching in Makuc' early work was (as I mentioned
before) more of an adaptation to the actual material circumstances than a speciali-
sation in the sense of restriction. (In the light of the artist's later painting work we
may conclude that his earliest etchings are actually also very painting-like; the man-
ner in which he treated the etching plates created a pulsating of the brilliant haptic-
like colour surfaces.) When writing about Makuc' etchings in the previously-men-

73Vladimir Makuc

tioned text Leonardo Sciascia used the words of Luigi Bartolini about his own expe-
rience of graphic art. He highlighted the word insaziabilita which can literally be
translated as "insatiability". Sciascia considered this very basic insaziabilit`a as essen-
tial for Makuc' graphic art. It was the thing that since early nineteen-eighties when
his working conditions improved drove Makuc beyond printmaking into the search
of new means of expression.

It is very exciting to follow how the same visions in the artist's work travel not only
through various techniques but also through different stylisations and through dis-
tinct printmaking, painting and sculptural manners. It seems that his subjects jour-
ney through solid, liquid and gaseous states of matter. They stretch from condensed
minuteness of detail to coded patterns that remind us of computerised script and to
volatile outlines which sometimes spill over the edges of the paintings as if they
wanted to disperse into infinite space. (In this interesting relations develop between
extreme informality and formal schemes. They are not always simple. Sometimes
a more obviously planned element reveals itself in a more spontaneous way than
something which seems to be a deliberate scheme. The artist's work explores this
kind of tensions all the time.) The visions also move through different backgrounds.
So for instance the Karst oxen which in the early etchings incite a feeling of an
unusually refreshing ancient rustic world later on connect to the sign "Boeuf Sur
Le Toit", which is the title of a ballet by Milhaud and also the name of a famous
Paris restaurant. As a matter of fact archaism and modernism keep connecting all
the time in Makuc' work in a very exciting way as if the artist wanted to achieve a
feeling of all the periods at the same time.

May 2016

Iztok Geister

Birds in the geometry
of the saltworks

The graphic painting of Vladimir Makuc is well-known because of its motifs from
the saltworks and is especially distinctive because of the uniquely depicted ani-
mal figures.

The geometric layout of the saltworks cries out for an artistic rendering of its visu-
al components. The ponds on the salt-fields remind us of a chess board, not only
by the structure of the geometry between land and water but also because of the
colour and the alternation of the light and dark surfaces. However the painter is just
as drawn to the reflection of the blue skies in the water. He depicts the salt ponds
as parallelograms which makes them look tilted as if the midday mistral were
stretching them. They are enclosed by straight-lined water-channels and criss-
crossed with thin colour lines, like some trails of an artistic intervention whose
unclear meaning suggests a feeling of mystery, even intimacy. Or maybe their role
is just to render some dynamism to the otherwise static motif. The shells of dead

molluscs and pebbles - witnesses of the bygone river journeys and tidal stonema-
sonry which the painter illustrates with shiny bits of glass - are gleaming on dry land
and tidalflats. This entire visual inventory of the saltworks forms an oft-repeated
background to the prints of Vladimir Makuc.

If the dividing line between the abstract and realistic painting of animals were relat-
ed to their recognisability then we must state that the painter's creations of birds
developed through time. Initially they were imaginary depictions but evolved into
more and more realistic ones. At first their recognisability remained on a general
level. We could only state that an image referred to a bird, any bird. However, in
time the images became more and more specific to the point when we could iden-
tify the species of the bird on the painting. Nevertheless this is still very far from
the Veristic art of imitation; Makuc' art remains true to abstraction. The most pow-
erful charm of his creativity is actually the somewhat vague reality of his depicted
figures. Although they are clearly defined they keep fading in the evaporating atmos-
phere of the salt pans, and as if he wished to keep the bird recognisable and was
feeling sorry for this fading of identity the painter writes down the name of the bird,
but he does it as an inscription; he writes down the bird's scientific name in a coded
handwriting written from right to left and with the letters reversed.

The recognisable kinds of birds (usually one, maybe two or at the most three) on
one etching are depicted poetically. With the minimum of expression they seem to
be naively curious creatures which dreamily gaze at the sky. We might almost say
they are poetic caricatures in the best meaning of the term. Their typical shape and
bearing are idealised to a symbolic degree, while their extremities, mainly the legs
and the beak are more like accessories, rather like the dot on the letter "i". If we
observe the bird separately it looks lovely, but in the context of the picture it trans-
forms into a riddle. However it is not meant for us to wonder what the artist is try-
ing to convey through the bird, we must ask what the depicted bird is telling us.
After having masterfully incorporated the specified bird into the composition of the
picture, and by recording its name called it from our world, he rendered us the
opportunity to experience it at its deepest level. In this way Vladimir Makuc invites
the observer of the picture to deepen his or her admiration of the painting into the
amazement over the bird.

His subjects are with a few exceptions mainly limited to water-birds. These are;
Waders (Black-winged Stilt, Redshank, Pied Avocet and Black-tailed Godwit),
Cormorant, Heron and Kingfisher. The dry land birds are Hoopoe, Fieldfare
and Skylark. Exotic birds are Ibis and Phoenix. Only a few of the depicted
birds cannot be identified. Most of the motifs are from the saltworks and a few
are general.

75Vladimir Makuc



Vladimir Makuc ml.

Odtisi …

Pogled izza zvezka z domačimi nalogami skozi odprta vrata v očetov atelje,
pravzaprav preurejeno dnevno sobo našega stanovanja, kjer so v mojih najmlaj-
ših letih dan za dnem nastajale plošča za ploščo, grafika za grafiko, je pravza-
prav tisto, kar imam vedno pred očmi kadar pomislim na očeta - umetnika.

Neskončnost in neizmerna natančnost njegovih zarez v lesene, kovinske
ali kasneje plastične plošče sta bili res osupljivi, mislim, da skoraj ni nje-
govega dela, ki bi nastalo na hitro. Vsaka poteza je bila vedno premiš-
ljena in z določenim namenom narejena natančno tako in na tistem
mestu, kot si je zamislil. Za zarezami so prišle na vrsto barve in tudi pri
teh je bilo nešteto poizkusov in različnih odtenkov, preden je na koncu
prišlo do želenega (popolnega) odtisa.

Ob vseh urah, ki jih je posvetil ustvarjanju v ateljeju, je bil njegov odnos do
narave tisti, ki je dajal glavno noto njegovemu in posredno tudi mojemu živ-
ljenju. Vsakega lepega dne v kateremkoli letnem času je bilo škoda, če smo
ga bili prisiljeni preživeti med štirimi stenami. Zunaj v naravi je vendar
toliko lepih stvari, ki jih lahko hote ali nehote zaznamo med sprehodi in
tudi bolj zaresnimi izleti, peš, na smučeh ali na kolesu. Veliko tega, kar je
zgolj opazil ali pa podrobno opazoval, je dobilo svoj, čeprav še tako minia-
turen, odtis v kakšnem izmed njegovih del.

Mnogo let kasneje je veliko stvari drugačnih, tudi atelje je drug. Oče pa
ostaja enak, kot je bil.

Skupaj prebirava in urejava ogromen opus njegovih del, ki so nastajala v več
kot 60 letih njegovega ustvarjanja. Najdeva neštete risbice in skice na nikoli
zavrženih že uporabljenih kuvertah, tu so od ne vem kje odtrgani lističi in
različni dopisi, katerih zadnja stran je služila očetu kot beležka, kamor je
narisal osnutek, ki se je kasneje v končni izvedbi znašel na pravem listu
papirja, platnu ali lesu, keramiki, porcelanu, stiroporu. Vsega je res veliko,
saj je oče ustvarjal praktično do letos.

Mape, police, predalniki, stene ateljeja, povsod je polno grafik, risb,
akvarelov, slik, spravljeni so tudi poslikani keramični krožniki in sklede,
porcelanasti kipci, tapiserije, vse je tu. Razen grafik večina njegovih del z
redkimi izjemami tako ali tako ni nastala iz komercialnih namenov, saj se je
večinoma zelo težko odločil za prodajo. Vedno je želel v potencialnem
kupcu najprej videti ljubitelja, ki bo znal ceniti to, kar je dobil v roke.

»Odtisov« je veliko, nekaj jih je tudi tukaj pred nami, na tej razstavi.
Še več jih nosim povsod s seboj …

77Vladimir Makuc

Vladimir Makuc

Življenjepis

Vladimir Makuc se je rodil v Solkanu 8. maja 1925. Obiskoval je učiteljišče v
Gorici, njegovo šolanje je prekinila 2. svetovna vojna, zato je diplomiral šele po
kapitulaciji Italije leta 1943, nato je bil v partizanih.

V šolskem letu 1946/47 se je vpisal na Šolo za umetno obrt v Ljubljani, kjer je
diplomiral v razredu prof. Zorana Didka. Že pred diplomo se je preizkusil kot
kopist srednjeveških fresk, leta 1950 pa je opravil sprejemni izpit na Akademiji
upodabljajočih umetnosti v Ljubljani, kjer je študiral pri Božidarju Jakcu, Mariju
Preglju, Gabrijelu Stupici, Riku Debenjaku, Maksimu Sedeju, Francetu Miheliču in
Slavku Pengovu, po koncu študija pa se je vpisal na podiplomski program restavra-
torstva pri prof. Mirku Šubicu. Tedaj se je ukvarjal tudi z grafičnim oblikovanjem
(knjižno opremo), potem pa kot restavrator deloval v različnih krajih po Sloveniji,
kjer je kopiral in restavriral mnoge, predvsem poznogotske freske.

Samostojno se je najprej začel izražati v grafiki (med 1957 in 1960 pretežno v
lesorezu). Od 1959 dalje je pogosto sodeloval na mednarodnih grafičnih razs-
tavah, bodisi individualno, bodisi v sklopu slovenske oziroma jugoslovanske selek-
cije. Na 3. sredozemskem bienalu v Aleksandriji je prejel prvo nagrado za grafiko.
Nagrajen je bil tudi v Luganu (1962), Firencah (1965), Anconi (1990 in 1993),
Chamalieresu (1994) in Kairu (1996). S štipendijo Sklada Moša Pijadeja se je leta
1960 dva meseca izpopolnjeval v ateljeju Johnnyja Friedlaenderja v Parizu (zlasti
v barvni jedkanici in akvatinti). Po letu 1962 je pogosto razstavljal v domovini in
tujini (Celovec, Rim, Gorica, Atene ...), med drugim se je predstavil tudi na 33.
beneškem bienalu. Za svoje dosežke je leta 1979 prejel Prešernovo nagrado in
odlikovanje Red dela z zlatim vencem, leta 1987 pa nagrado Riharda Jakopiča. V
letu 2015 je za življenjsko delo prejel Župančičevo nagrado, predsednik Republike
Slovenije pa ga je istega leta odlikoval s Srebrnim redom za zasluge.

Po letu 1980 se je bolj osredotočil na slikarstvo, preizkusil pa se je tudi v kiparstvu,
keramiki in izdelavi osnutkov za tapiserije. V zadnjih dvajsetih letih mu je več
slovenskih in tujih muzejskih institucij pripravilo obsežne pregledne razstave z
izbori iz njegovega bogatega opusa.

Vladimir Makuc je imel doslej že več kot 100 samostojnih razstav doma in po
svetu, med drugim v Ljubljani, Mariboru, Novi Gorici, Celju, Velenju, Ajdovščini,
Zagrebu, Beogradu, Dubrovniku, Skopju, Rimu, Gorici, Trstu, Bologni, Vidmu,
Palermu, Celovcu, Amsterdamu, Kairu, Buenos Airesu in Tokyu. Sodeloval je na
več kot 500 skupinskih razstavah doma in po svetu, med drugim v Ljubljani,
Mariboru, Slovenj Gradcu, Murski Soboti, Zagrebu, Novem Sadu, Benetkah,
Luganu, Aleksandriji, Berlinu, Linzu, Dunaju, Aachnu, Wiesbadnu, Barceloni,
Atenah, Budimpešti, Krakovu, Cincinnatiju, Riu de Janeiru, Mexico Cityju,
Caracasu in New Delhiju.

Popoln življenjepis, seznam nagrad, del v javnih zbirkah, grafičnih map, samostojnih
in skupinskih razstav ter bibliografija so objavljeni v monografiji Goriškega muzeja z
naslovom Vladimir Makuc, Zbirka podarjenih del, Retrospektivni izbor, 2010.

Biography

Vladimir Makuc was born in Solkan on May 8th 1925. He attended a
Teacher's Training College in Gorizia until World War II interrupted his stud-
ies. He graduated only after the surrender of Italy in 1943. Afterwards he
joined the Partisan resistance.

In the school year 1946/47 he entered the School of Arts and Crafts in Ljubljana.
He graduated in the class of professor Zoran Didek. Already before his graduation
he worked as a copyist of medieval frescoes and in 1950 he passed the entrance
examination at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. There he studied under pro-
fessors Božidar Jakac, Marij Pregelj, Gabrijel Stupica, Riko Debenjak, Maksim
Sedej, France Mihelič and Slavko Pengov. After graduating he started postgradu-
ate studies in restoration with professor Mirko Šubic. At the time he also worked
as a graphic designer (book covers) and later on as a restorer. This work took him
to various places in Slovenia where he copied and restored many frescoes, main-
ly those from the late Gothic period.

As an artist he first worked in graphic art (during the years 1957 - 1960 he main-
ly worked in woodcut). Since 1959 he has often participated at international
printmaking exhibitions, individually or as a selected member of the Slovenian or
Yugoslav group. At the 3rd Mediterranean Biennial in Alexandria he was award-
ed the First Prize for printmaking. He also won prizes in Lugano (1962), Florence
(1965), Ancona (1990 and 1993), Chamalieres (1994) and Cairo (1996). In
1960 he won the Moša Pijade Foundation scholarship and spent two months in
Paris working at the studio of Johnny Friedlander (mainly in colour etching and
aquatint). After 1962 he often exhibited his works at home and abroad
(Klagenfurt, Rome, Gorizia, Athens....), among other things he also took part at
the 33rd Venice Biennial. For his achievements he received the Prešeren Prize in
1979 and an Order of Merit with the Golden Wreath and in 1987 he was award-
ed the Rihard Jakopič Prize. For his life work he received the Župančič Award in
2015 and was decorated with the Silver Order of merit by the president of the
Republic of Slovenia in that same year.

After 1980 he devoted himself to painting and also worked in sculpture, ceramics
and created designs for tapestries. In the past twenty years he had many retro-
spective exhibitions assembled from the rich collection of his body of works which
were organised by several Slovenian and foreign museums. Vladimir Makuc had
over a hundred solo exhibitions at home and abroad, among others in : Ljubljana,
Maribor, Nova Gorica, Celje, Velenje, Ajdovščina, Zagreb, Belgrade, Dubrovnik,
Skopje, Rome, Gorizia, Trieste, Bologna, Udine, Palermo, Klagenfurt,
Amsterdam, Cairo, Buenos Aires, and Tokyo. He participated at over 500 group
exhibitions at home and abroad: in Ljubljana, Maribor, Slovenj Gradec, Murska
Sobota, Zagreb, Novi Sad, Venice, Alexandria, Berlin, Linz, Vienna, Aachen,
Wiesbaden, Barcelona, Athens, Budapest, Cracow, Cincinnati, Rio de Janeiro,
Mexico City, Caracas, and New Delhi.

The artist lives and works in Ljubljana.

79Vladimir Makuc

Po neba svetlih potih

Vladimir Makuc - 60 let ustvarjanja

Ljubljanski grad
29. junij - 28. avgust 2016

Izdal in založil: Ljubljanski grad, zanj: Mateja Avbelj Valentan
Uredniški odbor: mag. Marko Arnež, Tatjana Pinoza, mag. Vladimir Makuc ml.
Avtorji besedil: Iztok Geister, dr. Miklavž Komelj, mag. Vladimir Makuc ml.

Prevod v angleščino: Nina Zelenko
Jezikovni pregled: Marija Šubic
Korekture: mag. Barbara Kalan, Lidia Horvat, Marija Šubic
Fotografije: Tihomir Pinter, Matjaž Prešeren, Marko Tušek,
osebni arhiv Vladimirja Makuca
Grafično oblikovanje: Marko Tušek
Tisk: Tiskarna Košir
Naklada: 300 izvodov
Cena: 12,00 eur

Ljubljana, junij 2016

Razstava je nastala v sodelovanju med Ljubljanskim gradom, Galerijo Prešernovih
nagrajencev za likovno umetnost Kranj in umetnikovo družino.
Likovna dela za razstavo so izposojena tudi iz stalne zbirke Goriškega muzeja
Kromberk - Nova Gorica.