Riko Debenjak
Riko Debenjak
(1908 – 1987)
Painter and graphic artist Riko Debenjak was one of the leading representatives of the Ljubljana School of Graphic Arts. He was born in 1908 in Kanal ob Soči. Despite his deep connection to his hometown, he emigrated to Yugoslavia at the onset of fascism, joining his brother Tone, where he found work on the railway. He studied in Belgrade, graduating in 1937 from the School of Fine Arts and later completing an advanced painting course. At the end of his studies, he was the only student to exhibit his works alongside professors at the Jubilee Autumn Exhibition, and he also held his first solo exhibition in Belgrade that year, attended by Slovenian representatives in the Belgrade government, where he sold nearly all the exhibited works.
From 1937 to 1950, he primarily devoted himself to painting. In 1957, at the invitation of graphic artist J. Friedlaender, he worked in the artist’s studio in Paris, creating a series of colorful prints inspired by karst motifs and the print Man and Space in response to the first human space flight.
In 1960, he became the head of the Department of Graphics at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana. Between 1961 and 1964, he held various roles, including serving as a member and president of the Association of Fine Artists of Slovenia and the Yugoslav Association of Fine Artists.
Upon retiring in 1973, he completed his most extensive cycle, Magical Dimensions, which brought his name and that of the Ljubljana School of Graphic Arts to international recognition.
“Relentless faith in light and matter …”
Work
Debenjak is considered one of the most important Slovenian graphic artists of the 20th century and a founder of the Ljubljana School of Graphic Arts. He introduced experimentation in graphics, especially in etching and aquatint, exploring the full potential of intaglio printing, including subsequent interventions in the matrix and the introduction of color, which became a hallmark of the Ljubljana school. His graphic work includes (color) etching, (color) aquatint, combinations of color aquatint and etching, (color) lithography, (colored, toned, washed) woodcuts, linocuts, drypoint, reserve techniques, and combinations thereof.
He began working with graphics during his studies in Belgrade, and during World War II, Božidar Jakac inspired him further. Around 1955, graphics became central to his work. Color lithography captivated him, resulting in his first graphic cycle, Beehive Panels (1951–53), which utilized larger formats and drew inspiration from ethnology and landscape. He often depicted Karst and Istrian women, initially in an expressive style, gradually reducing them to essential compositional elements and silhouettes, eventually evolving into abstract symbols by the late 1950s, culminating in the work Karst Caryatid (1957).
In the 1950s, his art transitioned to an abstract language emphasizing lines and planes. This shift peaked with the Magical Dimensions series (1957–76), inspired by space exploration and themes of humanity’s place in the infinity of space and time. His experiments with aquatint combined with other techniques and his training with Friedlaender in 1957 in Paris significantly influenced his mastery of graphic techniques and printing methods.
His groundbreaking 1953 exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art with Stane Kregar opened the door to modernism and abstraction in Slovenia. Alongside his solo work, he designed postage stamp graphics and educated generations of graphic artists, continuing the internationally recognized tradition of the Ljubljana School of Graphic Arts.
Wild cat
1958/1987 | EA | etching, paper
Memory of Venice
1953/1987 | EA | woodcut, paper