“What we start to see in this collection is Vanka as an observer, Vanka as a laborer, artist as laborer, who takes the time to look, to investigate and to draw.”
“What we start to see in this collection is Vanka as an observer, Vanka as a laborer, artist as laborer, who takes the time to look, to investigate and to draw.”
Gledaj! The Gaze of Maxo Vanka
Temporary Exhibition – April 20 – October 26, 2023
Presented by the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka, in partnership with Rivers of Steel
Croatian artist Maxo Vanka is known to many for his “Gift to America”: the 25 murals painted on the walls of Millvale’s St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church. These one-of-a-kind murals—a tribute to an immigrant congregation and community—are also the dramatic culmination of the artist’s experiences, his vision of justice, and his unflinching gaze at the world around him.
In 2019, Maxo Vanka’s granddaughter, Marya Halderman, and her husband John gifted the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka a treasure trove of original sketches and drawings completed during the artist’s visits to Pittsburgh in 1935 and 1937. The more than 130 works feature sketches of bridges, riverboats, industry, and architecture from the Pittsburgh region as well as preparatory sketches for the murals Maxo Vanka completed at St. Nicholas in Millvale.
This exhibition adds another dimension to our knowledge of Vanka. Where the work in the collection offers a window to the artist’s process on the murals, the pieces on loan show that Vanka was working on many of the themes, portraits, and scenes in the murals across his creative life. He drew inspiration from peasant life and costume, from Catholic liturgy and religious teaching, and from the landscape and architecture of his beloved Croatia. Many of the pieces on loan can be grouped thematically and demonstrate Vanka’s process, his intense concentration, his gaze.
This exhibition is curated by Steffi Domike.
Read about the exhibition is this article from Belt Magazine.
Closing Reception
Thursday, October 26, 2023, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Join Rivers of Steel and the Society to Preserve the Millvale Murals of Maxo Vanka for a public reception in the Bost Building’s upper gallery. Sign up for the free event. Light refreshments and snacks will be provided.
Thursday, October 26, 2023, 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Free, registration required.
The Bost Building is located at 623 E. Eighth Avenue, Homestead, PA 15120. Free parking for visitors is available in the lot behind the building which is accessed from Heisel Street.
For more information, contact info@riversofsteel.com.
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