Ivan Meštrović

Meštrović got married to his first wife, Ruza Klein, in 1904.

He married his second wife, Olga Kesterčanek, in 1922. The couple had four children together: Marta, Tvrtko, Maria, and Mate.

Two of his children died before him. His daughter Marta died in 1949 at the age of 24, and his son Tvrtko died at the age of 39 in 1961.

Ivan Meštrović was born on August 15, 1883, in Slavonia, Austria-Hungary, which is located in modern-day Croatia. He was born to peasant farmers in the small village of Vrpolje.

He was raised in the village of Otavice where his father was the only one in the community who could read. His family was very religious and this influence showed in his sculptures.

In 1896, at the age of thirteen, he got his first apprenticeship under a marble cutter.

In 1899 a master stone cutter from Split by the name of Pavle Bilinic took notice of his talent. He took the sixteen-year-old boy under his wings as an apprentice. Bilinic’s wife was a high school teacher and under the tutelage of the husband-wife duo his skills were greatly improved. Meštrović’s study of city architecture played a great role in honing his skill.

Soon after starting this apprenticeship Meštrović was admitted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He studied here until 1904.

In 1905, he began exhibiting his work with the Vienna Sezession exhibition.

He built on this momentum in 1906 when he showcased his work at the Austrian Exhibition at Earl's Court in London.

In 1908 he moved to Paris, France. During his time in France he established a relationship with the renowned French Sculptor Auguste Rodin.

While in France he produced over 50 sculptures. Many of these works drew heavy influence from the local Croatian legends and earned him international recognition.

In 1911, he moved to Rome, where he spent four years studying ancient Greco-Roman sculptures.

Meštrović's first major work was his ‘Well of Life’ sculpture first, exhibited in 1905. The work shows several people contorting their bodies around a well, which signifies the hardships faced at the time by his native people.

Another one of his major works was his bust of Nikola Tesla. Its significance is that it is the most well-known piece of art regarding this famous scientist.