A monograph Modern sculpture of island Hvar by Vinko Srhoj is published by University of Zadar and Stari Grad Museum, in the newly launched Zephyrus Library of the Department of Art History, University of Zadar.
This monograph discusses the opuses of sculptors native to the island of Hvar, from the late 19th century to the present day. By choosing twelve sculptors from island Hvar it emphasizes that their opuses in most cases did not remain tied to narrower homeland, but it is their value that made them a part of the national sculptural landscape. Or, in words of the reviewer, academic Tonko Maroević “…it seems that it is not the case in any other environment, that one could draw conclusions pertinent to the entire Croatian modern and contemporary art, based on the rather small number of samples.”
So far, the sculptors from island Hvar were mentioned in the newspapers, periodicals and exhibition catalogues, but beside some pioneering attempts at unifying and defining the phenomenon of the island sculpture, for example, by Grgo Gamulin or by travelling exhibition Four sculptors of island Hvar, 2001-2003 (Stari Grad, Split, Zadar, Szentendre, Vienna), there was no visible attempt to synthesise scientific framework for this phenomenon. The book contains studies of sculptors: Josip Plančić, Josip Makjanić, Šime Dujmović, Juraj Škarpa, Juraj Dobrović, Josip Grgevčić, Dinko Vranković, Vera Kovačić, Peruško Bogdanić, Slavomir Drinković, Kuzma Kovačić and Kažimir Hraste.
The monograph is dedicated to the 2400th anniversary of the foundation of Stari Grad and will be presented on 17 August 2016 in Stari Grad.