Maximillian Vanka: Life and Work

Maxo Vanka lived what can only be described as a fairy tale life. He was born in 1889, the natural son of Austro-Hungarian nobility whose names have never been revealed, but who sent him to be raised by peasants in a rural area north of Zagreb. He stayed with his peasant family until he was eight at which point two wealthy uncles intervened and took charge of his upbringing. He attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and later at the Ecole Superieur in Brussels. At both institutions he won prizes and quickly established himself as an important young artist. He exhibited throughout Europe, but showed a particular interest in the in folk life of his homeland.

In 1931, after a whirlwind courtship, he married a wealthy American woman, Margaret Stettin who was the daughter of a prominent New York surgeon. They lived in Zagreb for several years, but with the approach of Nazism, they immigrated with their young daughter to the United States. In New York, Vanka maintained a studio in the Bowery and frequently painted the poor, the displaced and the immigrant families who were struggling to survive the depression. His own residence, however, was a Park Avenue apartment. In 1934, the couple moved to Bucks County, Pennsylvania (near the artist colony of New Hope) where they lived for the rest of their lives.

In 1937, Father Albert Zagar, the priest at St. Nicholas Church in Millvale, having seen Vanka's work at a small exhibition organized by the Yugoslav Consulate, invited the artist to Pittsburgh to paint murals that would cover the interior of the church. He told Vanka that the area behind the altar had to show the Virgin Mary with the Christ Child, but that everything else was his to paint as he saw fit. This freedom gave Vanka an extraordinary opportunity to bring together the major themes of his work: a love of Croatian folk life, sensitivity to the struggle of industrial workers and a strong sense of social justice that was particularly focused on his opposition to war. Unlike other artists who created murals for installation in Pittsburgh, Vanka came to the city and personally completed 10 large panels in eight weeks in 1937 and completed the remaining eight panels in 1941.

Though artistic influences can be identified -- Mexican muralism, European symbolism and Byzantine church art -- the overall impact is strictly Vanka and his vision. The work is an exceptionally personal statement in which the artist gives vent to his feeling about war, exploitation and spirituality. (Vanka was described as spiritual, but not a member of any church.) He called the murals his "gift to America."

While in Bucks County, Vanka taught art at Delaware Valley College, traveled extensively and continued to exhibit his work. He died in 1963. His family remains in eastern Pennsylvania. Until her death, his daughter, Margaret Vanka Brasko, whose likeness appears in one of the murals, contributed to retrospectives honoring her father’s life and work including visits to Pittsburgh, Millvale and the murals.

The Society is pleased to have the endorsement and generous support of the Vanka Family for its efforts to preserve and increase awareness and appreciation of the murals.

For more information: http://www.bucksiu.org/art/html/bios/vanka.htm