Akademie der Bildenden Künste

Akademie der Bildenden Künste

Viktor Kovačić went to Vienna during October 1896. There he enrolled at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste, where he attended a special school with the famous Viennese architect Otto Wagner. With Wagner’s school, new and much wider perspectives opened before his eyes, completely different from the narrow provincial environment he had known until then.

At the very beginning of his education, Kovačić’s first famous Viennese project “Ein Versammlungsort mit Aussicht auf der Höhe eines Berges” was created – a competition work for a scholarship for young artists, Hungarian citizens, who studied at the Viennese Academy. For this work, the young Kovačić was awarded a three-year scholarship in the amount of 1,260 HUF. On March 7, 1897, Zagreb’s Agramer Zeitung also reported on Kovačić’s success in Vienna, and in 1901, his work was presented in the Vienna magazine Architektonische Monatshefte.

Kovačić’s school work entitled “Entwurf für eine Hotel – Anlage an der Wienzeile” was presented in 1898 at the Academy’s annual exhibition in the category of works by second-year students and in the supplement of the famous Viennese magazine Der Architekt, where the Viennese critic Ludwig Abels wrote a very positive review of it . On July 31, 1898, the architect Adolf Loos commented on this work of Kovačić in the Vienna Neue Freie Presse. A few years later, Kovačić and Loos became close friends.

In addition to Kovačić’s well-known works from the Vienna Academy, his legacy also includes several drawings that can undoubtedly be connected to his stay in Vienna. These are several exceptional drawings in ink and colored pencil with motifs of ancient temples and palaces, in which Kovačić fascinates us not only with the richness of fantasy, but also with his drawing virtuosity. In the context of Croatian fine art from the beginning of the 20th century, these works by Kovačić are among the best drawings of that time.

^{Architect Edo Šen about Viktor Kovačić’s drawings: “Each drawing, no matter how sketchy it is, is clear and characteristic. Many of his drawings and sketches are a work of art in themselves. And if they are made in a completely original manner, they can be a valuable contribution to our graphic art. “}

Viktor Kovačić finished his education with Wagner in 1899. His final study project at the Academy is the project of the imperial summer residence Orianda on the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Wagner evaluated Kovačić’s work as solid, on the basis of which the rectorate of the Academy awarded him the so-called diploma that year. Austritts-Zeugnis, which “gives him the usual right to use the title of architect in Austria, where architects are considered free artists”. Kovačić was also awarded the Academy’s annual “Rome Award” for the imperial summer residence project. In the end, the project was presented in the annual supplement of the works of the Wagner school in Der Architekt magazine. Traditionally, the introductory commentary on the works was written by Ludwig Abels.

Kovačić’s life in Vienna was not easy. Due to irregular scholarship payments and a lack of other sources of funding, he was forced to go to Zagreb during the school holidays, where he worked as an associate from 1897 with his patron Kuna Waidmann. Even then, Kovačić was very actively involved in the domestic art scene. In June 1897, he participated in the founding of the Society of Croatian Artists in Zagreb. The society was founded by a group of artists led by the painter Vlaho Bukovac after they separated from the Society of Arts due to numerous disagreements. The General Assembly of the new company was held on June 27, 1897. Bukovac was elected as its president, sculptor Robert Frangeš Mihanović as vice president, sculptor Rudolf Valdec as secretary, while Kovačić was elected among the members of the executive board. The central event is the first Croatian modern exhibition of the 1st Croatian salon. The exhibition was opened on December 15, 1898 in the Art Pavilion. Kovačić was also present at the exhibition, who created a frame for Bukovec’s portrait of Baron Ljudevit Vraniczany for the occasion.