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Acrylic on Canvas
20 x 24 inches
26 x 30 inches
Signed Likan lower left
Known as the Father of Acrylics, he was originally from Croatia, he lived and painted in Argentina, Chicago and finally in 1969 he moved to Austin. In 1950 he began a two year commission for Eva Peron, painting murals in all the Argentina schools. In 1963 he paints an “American Tragedy” depicting the Kennedy family in mourning, (currently the property of the LBJ Library). Education included lst Real Gymnasium, Zagreb, Diploma 1926; Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, Paris, Rome, Hague. 1930-1937 with a specialty in Artistic painting. Professor, Acadeny of Fine Arts, Munich, Germany; Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Paintings found in museums and galleries in Europe, America and South America.
He spent summers in Holland, Italy and France where he visited museums, sketched and painted. He emigrated to South America in 1950 where he began a two-year commission for Eva Peron painting murals in the schools of Argentina. He later moved to the United States arriving in Chicago in 1957. He was appointed to the staff of The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts as an instructor where he taught until 1967. The remainder of his life he resided in Texas. He taught at the Laguna Gloria Museum in Austin. An outspoken critic of gimmickry in art, he believed rather in the unifying nature of art: ‘”The function of art is the creation of beauty.The artist has the power to create in others his pleasurable excitement, thereby sharing with them esthetic experiences.”‘ His paintings are in museums and galleries throughout Europe and the Americas.