After publishing his first monograph in the spring of 2017, the Korčula artist Ante Kapor recently published a second monograph. In this book, Kapor introduces us to the part of his oeuvre created from 1958 to 1967 – a total of 143 works encompassing drawings and tempera paintings.

 Antun Kapor is an artist from Korčula who has lived in Paris for over 50 years. Born in 1938 in Korčula, he graduated in 1960 at the School of Applied Arts in Zagreb. A few years later, Kapor left for Paris to work and exhibit at a joint art studio with his good friend, the Croatian-Canadian painter Anton Cetin.

In Paris, his work first received notice when Portrait of a Girl was on display at the Salon d'Automne. With the painting, Kapor showed a curious approach to the visual arts with a style resembling and close to cubism, yet with a distinctive view of the connection between humankind and machines.

Kapor held exhibitions twice in Zagreb. In 1970, his works were also on display on the French Riviera and earned him a prestigious award. After introducing his work to the audience of Sucy-en-Brie with two exhibitions, he remained in the small town in the Paris suburbs to this day. In 2009, his works were on display for visitors of the Maksimilijan Vanka Gallery in Korčula.

Kapor reflects on his work in the following manner: In my drawings and tempera paintings, I have used symbolism to portray the human being as a machine. In so doing, I did not draw inspiration from literature, philosophy or artistic techniques, unlike what some art critics have claimed. I drew spontaneously capturing the entirety of the human being as the work of a creator and as a complex machine with a start and end date.

Looking at recent technological advancements, it may well be said that the works of this Korčula-born Parisian artist are also visionary. French writer and professor of philosophy at Sorbonne University José Le Roy touches upon this fact in the monograph in the introductory article Is the human being a machine ?

Two centuries later, thanks to modern technology more and more advanced androids with human-like behaviour are being created. It would seem the themes Kapor reflected upon in his works in the 60s are becoming a reality. One can only guess at what the perfected human being and humanized robot will represent in the future – perhaps a new post-humanity resembling Kapor’s paintings.

In addition to being a painter, Kapor has been travelling the world on his work assignments, thereby continuing the tradition of his Korčula ancestors who were masters of their trades. He spent two years in Saudi Arabia working on the decorations in the palaces of King Khalid and King Fahed. Kapor was also hired by the Algerian president for works on the presidential residence. While living and working in Paris, he spends a significant amount of time each year in his native town of Korčula.

Both of the luxuriously designed and bound monographs are self-published with graphic design done by Neven Osojnik and Anton Cetin. They are available in the French, English and Croatian language.

Dora Lozica