Stanko Jančić (Zagreb, 1932 - ), sculptor
After attending a classical high school, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, graduating in 1956. He was privileged to study under prominent professors such as Augustinčić, Kršinić, Hegedušić and others.
For fourteen years (1956-1970) he worked in the studio of Antun Augustinčić in Zagreb, then became an independent artist and joined the Biafra art group (1970-1975). He held his first solo exhibition in Zagreb in 1977, for which he won the Vladimir Nazor Prize.
He has designed various sculptures, made portraits and executed ecclesiastical sculptures, using a wide variety of materials and techniques (including stone, metal, wood and polyester).
He has travelled extensively. He was among the first artists to visit the newly-created African state of Guinea in 1962, where he collaborated on creating a portrait in granite of the country’s chief, Sékou Turé.
Jančić has dedicated a large part of his creativity to works on the topic of the struggle for national liberation. He made a gold and silver plaque for the Second Session of the Anti-Fascist Council of National Liberation of Yugoslavia and a memorial in Bosanska Dubica.
He is the author of the memorial entitled The dead open the eyes of the living, in the centre of Jasenovac village. On the patio of the Memorial Museum of Jasenovac Memorial Site there is a replica of his sculpture, Dead Inmate (the original was stolen during the Homeland War), for which he was awarded the Croatian Artists’ Association Prize in 1969. The sculpture expresses in a tangible way a time when men and mankind were rejected, and encourages the viewer to think by subtle suggestion.
Stanko Jančić is a regular lecturer in the Sculpture Department of the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb.