MY MEMORIES OF IVAN MEŠTROVIĆ
CHRISTOPHER SPALATIN
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Journal of Croatian Studies, XXIV,
1983, – Annual Review of the Croatian Academy of America, Inc. New York, N.Y.,
Electronic edition by Studia Croatica, by permission. All rights
reserved by the Croatian Academy of America.
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Ivan Meštrović grew up in my
father's generation, and knew my grandfather, three of grandfather's daughters,
as well as several of his sons. I myself was born in 1909, grew up between the
two World Wars, and did not meet Meštrović before World War II. To my
generation, Ivan Meštrović was considered the most famous living Croatian;
we were proud of his artistic achievements. In a country politically and
ideologically much polarized, this great man's political stance and ideological
orientation were of paramount importance. Speaking very generally, we saw him
as a staunch supporter of Yugoslav unity; we heard that during World War I,
together with Frano Supilo and Ante Trumbić, he advocated the creation of
a Yugoslav state following the dismemberment of the Austro-Hungarian empire. In
the '20s and '30s he was known to us as an intimate friend of King Alexander
Karadjordjević.
However, during that time the
Croato-Serbian animosity progressively worsened. To be a Yugoslav meant that
one was not a good Croatian ideologically. Meštrović was also considered
to be a liberalac, i.e. a sort of secularist — a person who disregards forms of
established religious worship. To be anti-Yugoslav and to be a church-goer were
in many instances closely connected. It was also very well known at that time
that Meštrović had made religious sculptures, but many of our
contemporaries interpreted these as simply conventional artistic subjects. He
was commissioned, for example, to decorate St. Mark's Church in Zagreb. The
commissioner, Msgr. Rittig, himself an advocate of Yugoslav unity, was
considered a political anomaly as a priest of Yugoslav orientation.
In the fall of 1941, after the
establishment of the Independent State of Croatia, I went to the University of
Rome to teach the Croatian language. At the same time, Meštrović was
imprisoned by the new regime. He describes that painful experience in his
Uspomene na političke ljude i dogadjaje (Memories of Political Men and
Happenings). Released after several months, he was allowed to go to Italy; in
1942 we met in Rome. After a short stay there, Meštrović withdrew to
Switzerland. Later, as the war ended, he returned to Rome with his wife, two
sons and a daughter. Since he did not wish his sons to attend an Italian
secondary school he asked me to be their private tutor. Although I continued to
teach at the University, my monthly salary was sufficient to support my family
for only the first half of the month — the stipend I received from
Meštrović saw us through to the end of the month. At the same time he
asked me to translate his "Conversations with Michelangelo" into
French, which I think he did mostly to help me financially.
In 1947 Meštrović accepted a position
at Syracuse University; in 1955 he moved to Notre Dame University. Also in
1955, upon opening its 75th anniversary celebration, Marquette University,
where I was teaching by that time, conferred upon Meštrović an honorary
degree. I, as a Croatian, was asked to read the following citation: "Ivan
Meštrović: a patriot whose genius expressed with epic power the
indomitable spirit of his beloved Croatia. 'The greatest phenomenon among the
sculptors', said the immortal Rodin. The tyrant could not conquer him whom the
freedom of American citizenship won for us. His strong impulse toward God
called forth from his remark-able prolific genius creations of power, deep
reverence, and startling originality. The timelessness, vitality, and
monumental dignity of his work have justly won for him the acclaim of being one
of the greatest religious sculptors of all time. Because he reflects the
essence of the classical spirit with startling clarity, remarkable splendour
and astonishing variety of design, he has merited the degree of Doctor of Laws,
honoris causa". For me it was a privilege to extol a man whom I admired so
much.
During the ensuing seven years I
visited Mr. and Mrs. Meštrović several times with my wife and our youngest
son (the artist had a particular fondness for children). I spent long hours in
the evenings listening to the recounting of his many experiences. He would
often say "You should know this ...", with the implication that he
was handing down something important to posterity. We have to remember that
Meštrović's education was, until the age of 15, oral tradition only.
Writing later about his fellow peasants he described his own upbringing:
"The peasants carried on the Croatian artistic tradition, and from the
villages there poured forth poetry, heroic ballads, and lyric songs, many of
them containing hundreds of verses. The peasants chanted and recited these
verses at every gathering, keeping the spirit of the nation alive and the
cultural thread unbroken".[1]
I know of no immigrant who would long so deeply for his lost fatherland: he was
attached to his native language, to his people. He said that some of his best
sculptures remained in his native mountains: in an intense vision he saw their
shapes in the Dinaric mountain chains.
In the '50s and '60s Professor
Eterovich and I worked on an encyclopaedic survey of Croatian culture.
Professor Meštrović was pleased to write a foreword for it, and this
appeared in the first volume of Croatia: Land, People, Culture,
published by University of Toronto Press in 1964. We dedicated the entire work
to Meštrović because he supported us morally through the long years of
work.
According to my notes written at
that time, on January 26, 1962, Meštrović went to his atelier at Notre
Dame University. After an hour he returned home and told his wife and daughter
Marica that he didn't feel at ease and wished to rest. When he awoke he found
speaking difficult. His doctor was called, but it was not until two hours later
that his substitute arrived. Marica accompanied him to the hospital; because of
inclement weather and her broken hip, Mrs. Meštrović remained at home.
When his wife arrived a bit later, Meštrović smiled. During the following
few hours he sighed several times Bože moj (My God), and, after receiving
extreme unction, he expired at 9 p.m. Many times he had expressed the desire to
work to the last day of his life.
The funeral services were held at
the main altar of the Notre Dame University Chapel. The Master's Pietŕ was
displayed at the side altar. Since the weather was unusually stormy, many could
not reach South Bend, Indiana, among them being Bishop Hurley from St.
Augustine, Florida, whom the artist had befriended after the war. Father
Theodore Hesburgh, president of the University, celebrated the mass and the
local bishop Msgr. Grurka delivered the eulogy, ending it with a few words in
Croatian.
Croatians came from all parts of
the United States to see off their great fellow countryman. After the services
some of us visited the artist's atelier, where his student Turkalj showed to us
Master's last statues. Among them we saw another Pietŕ expressing
profound reverence for the Son of Man and the faith in God's mercy. Touching
was the sculpture Father and Son, which the sculptor made after his son's
tragic death in the fall of 1961. When in December of that year I had asked him
about his son's death, he said: "Never mind it, that's very sad". In
America, during the last fifteen years of his life, Meštrović was
generally considered a profoundly religious sculptor,
As I have pointed out, between the
two wars Meštrović was not regarded as a man of faith. When I met him
personally I quickly realized that he was indeed a very religious person,
permeated with high moral principles. He firmly believed in the existence of
God and in man's absolute dependence on God. He couldn't imagine a life without
God and a people without religion. I believe that he is projecting himself in
the following description of Croatian people: "Christian or Moslem, the
Croatian takes his faith seriously. Religion forms the basis of his
personality, and he cherishes it as a gift. There is no doubt that this
deeply-anchored religious faith has been the source of the strength and
spiritual inspiration which has enabled the Croatian people to survive
individually and as a nation throughout centuries of struggle".[2]
He used to say that all religions
lead to the same God. According to him, Christ's teachings contained the most
perfect religious expression among men. On the other hand, he didn't have great
appreciation for the main Catholic religious practices: mass, sacraments,
dogmas. The last time I met with him was on December 8, 1961, the Feast of the
Immaculate Conception. Knowing that I was a firm believer of that dogma, he
told my friend Fr. Eterovich jokingly in my presence: "Even his wife Jelka
must have a hard time believing in that".
Yet a belief in a real
transcendent power was deeply rooted in him. Speaking of death he wrote:
"In the moments of that vital turning point, when the thread of life
breaks, before his eyes a man sees his children, his wife, his relatives and
friends, even his whole nation, whom he is leaving behind. He does not feel an
absolute separation, on the contrary he feels he will be with them perhaps more
than before".[3] Immediately
after his death, his daughter Marica wrote a short article in which she said
that her father was always ready to forgive even his own enemies. She
continues: "The most precious legacy he left to all people of good will
was summarized by him in these words—'Love one another and forgive one another'
".
After the assassination of the
Croatian leader Stjepan Radić in 1928 and the violent death of the Serbian
king in 1934, the idea of Yugoslav unity collapsed. Meštrović was aware of
that evident change. On the eve of World War II, Radić's successor Vladko
Maček reached a compromise with the Serbian politician Dragiša
Cvetković, and a new Croatian unit, called Banovina Hrvatska, was created
within Yugoslavia. Recalling that critical moment, Meštrović, who was well
informed in that instance, told me later: "The Croatians were dissatisfied
because they didn't get enough, and the Serbs were convinced they gave away too
much".[4]
Due to his artistic pursuits
Meštrović traveled extensively during the first half of his life between
Vienna, Paris, Rome, London and Chicago. In him the artist and the patriot were
intimately connected. He also realized that the big Western nations didn't have
great under-standing of the plight of his small nation. He sensed their
instinctive dislike for "Balkan rivalries." He disliked bringing his
country's domestic disputes before foreigners who could hardly distinguish
between so many odd sounding names. Such was his understanding that in 1945,
immediately after the war, when invited by the Yugoslav Partisans to visit an
exhibit of pictures showing war atrocities committed by their adversaries,
Meštrović told the representative of Tito's government: "Why did you
bring all that stuff? Haven't you gotten over that paranoid fever? Do you want
to convince the world that we are barbarians? All those pictures have been seen
in Chetnik, Ustasha and Partisan publications. The victims and their killers
have different names, that's all, according to the different accusers. A
foreigner will not distinguish Chetniks from Ustashas and Partisans, but he
will conclude: they are all from the same country, the same kind of people, all
bandits".[5]
Although Meštrović was
imprisoned by Ustashas and morally suffered greatly during that detention, he always
attempted to tone down any criticism of that regime. For him, Croatia was his
country, no matter who was in power there. As years went by and the new
Yugoslav regime became more oppressive toward Croatians, Meštrović felt
closer and closer to his people. As a gesture of this he donated his 24 wood
carvings depicting the life of Christ to a church in Split, and asked that
votive masses be celebrated once or twice yearly. The artist was both saddened
and angered when the Yugoslav government tried to delay the opening of the
chapel. It was a time at which for many Croatians in the country Ivan
Meštrović was a living symbol of opposition to an anti-religious and
anti-Croatian government. At such times of national frustration even little
things become significant. American Croatians like to buy exported Croatian
wines, cordials, and similar drinks. Yet like his fellow countrymen he would
also complain about bottle labels whereon one read the legend "Product of
Yugoslavia"; at the same time the plum brandy was labeled "Serbian
slivovitz".
At the beginning of 1957, some
time before President Eisenhower was to receive President Tito, I received the
following letter from Meštrović: „Please translate into English the
enclosed letter, which I intend to send to Mr. Dulles. I know that Tito's visit
is already decided upon, and that my letter will have no effect, but I am doing
it to put my conscience at peace. Especially try to formulate skilfully the
question that as a precondition Tito should release Stepinac from prison before
his own visit to Washington. I am sure that Americans would feel better and
Tito himself would feel safer”. The following is the translation of the letter
I sent him:
Dear Mr.
Dulles:
I hope you
will not be surprised by this letter. I write both as a citizen of this country
and as a former citizen of Croatia (Yugoslavia), who cannot be insensitive to
the destiny of that unfortunate country. These two facts, I trust, give me the
privilege as they certainly impose the duty to send you these words on the
occasion of the persistent report that the present Yugoslav ruler Josip Broz
Tito will officially be received in Washington, D.C.
I do not
claim any competence for judging whether or not it is profitable for the U.S.
to receive the dictator of a strictly Communist regime, ruling by brute force
against the will of 90 percent of his subjects whose hopes are all turned
toward freedom-loving America. According to my unimpechable sources, the U.S.
is the most popular nation among the Yugoslav peoples, even among most
communists. That is the real picture of the popular disposition in Yugoslavia.
When I
recently asked a reliable and competent informant what would be the attitude of
the people and army of Yugoslavia in case of an East-West conflict, I was told:
'In the case of a pro-communist venture, a general disintegration would be
quicker than in World War II. On the contrary, if the regime should choose to
side with the U.S., all Serbs and Croatians, disregarding national and
religious differences, would accept this fighting because the eyes of all are
directed toward America.' From that point of view the American program in
Yugoslavia has been successful. It has been the people's physical and moral
support. Yet there is no doubt that the reception of the head of the
dictatorship in Washington will greatly weaken this positive spirit, just as it
is certain that Belgrade government will take advantage of this opportunity to
crush their popular opposition.
Among the many limitations of freedom under Tito, the most grievous one is a religious persecution, especially against the Catholic church and its clergy. Cardinal Stepinac, the archbishop of Zagreb, has become the symbol of resistance to this persecution, and thus the most popular person in the nation. Leading communists have admitted to me that he was unjustly condemned. If we keep in mind that all this is generally known, I cannot but consider with dismay the disappointment of the Yugoslav people and the weakening of their hope in America, if Tito should be received in Washington by the President. This attitude is certain to be the attitude of all Croatians in Europe and here. As you know very well the same attitude will be shared by Catholics and all other freedom-loving citizens in this country. In consequence would it not be wise for the U.S., and Tito himself, to make Tito's reception in Washington conditional upon the complete release of Cardinal Stepinac and his return to his dignity together with the cessation of the persecution of the Catholic church?
I am
confident that, without losing sight of political realities, President
Eisenhower will be animated by the spirit of Jefferson and Lincoln and other
great American leaders who pledged to make this country a bulwark of freedom
and human dignity.
Later on Meštrović wrote me:
"I sent the letter and now it is in God's hands. Of course, this will not
change their decision, but it might make them think of the condition I
suggested, the more so that I heard they received many protests in connection
with Mr. Tito's visit. As I told you Mr. Dulles was very receptive to my
suggestions when I asked him to help Stepinac in his sickness. He helped him as
much as he could.
Meštrović denounced the
communist and the Ustasha rules, yet in both ideologies he knew how to find at
least something positive. For him, Tito happened to be the ruler of Croatia at
a certain moment in its long history, and he wanted to believe that even Tito
could do some good. In 1959 Meštrović visited the old country. As soon as
he arrived in Zagreb he went straight to the village of Krašić where the
Cardinal was interned; nobody stopped him on his way. For him, Stepinac
embodied justice, the perennial Croatian longing for justice. Stepinac was
truly a martyr in his eyes. Afterwards he visited Tito in his summer residence
on the Brioni Islands. Among other things, Meštrović complained to Tito
that the oppressive Serbian rule in Bosnia would transform that land into a
complete Serbian province. Tito assured him: "As long as I am here, Bosnia
will never become Serbian".
In 1959 Ena G. Macnutt published a
reader for the deaf children under the title Hearing With Our Eyes. She
described the lives of some great men, among them Ivan Meštrović. She began
his story with these words: "More than 50 years ago a little boy was
living in the village of Octavia (instead of Otavice) in Serbia (instead of
Croatia)". And the story ends: "He is one of the greatest sculptors
in the world. When the Serbians tell stories to their children now, they will
tell about Ivan Meštrović". When I called Meštrović's attention
to these and similar mistakes, he encouraged me to warn the writer, telling her
that the story would be closer to the truth if "Serbia and Serbian were replaced
by Croatia and Croatian". Mrs. Macnutt graciously took those suggestions
into consideration and added that her story inspired many a young man. Such
mistakes about Meštrović occurred often in other countries too, and caused
resentments among Croatians. Correcting these errors seemed, to Meštrović
himself, a Sisyphean task.
Ante Trumbić and Ivan
Meštrović, as we have seen, were considered the founders of Yugoslavia. In
1918 they brought about the dream of Gaj, Strossmayer, Rački and others.
However, Trumbić died in 1938 and Meštrović in 1962, both convinced
that the Yugoslav dream was a nightmare and that Croatians must materialize the
dream of Ante Starčević and live by themselves. By a strange twist of
history, Yugoslavism had led to atheistic communism. In the midst of that
development, Meštrović, before World War II, had prophetically pointed to
the triumph of Spirit and national freedom. On the occasion of the consecration
of the Church of Our Lady in Biskupija near Knin, which Meštrović restored
with his friend painter Jozo Kljaković, the sculptor composed a prayer
that was publicly read in 1938. Therein he said: "The Spirit will conquer
just as the sun conquers fog and darkness ... These builders of factories and
furnaces think that human souls can be kneaded by violence and injustice as one
kneads dirt when mixed with water ... " He concludes the long prayer:
"Not even one just desire will remain unheard; not even one prayer
unanswered. What grandparents do not see their grandchildren will behold; the
promised kingdom will come, that kingdom in which a man will not be a wolf to
another man, but a brother to his brother. Man will not be subjected to other
men, but to justice, love and truth."
In the first period of his
artistic activity, which goes to World War I, Meštrović stressed power and
strength embodied in national heroes. His motto was Usprkos nejunačkom
doba (In spite of non-heroic times). The war atrocities and the Yugoslav
failure gradually broadened his view of life. His wooden Crucifix made in
Geneva towards the end of World War I, his Pietŕ made in Rome in the
'40s after his imprisonment, and his Job made in South Bend, Indiana in the
late 50s, after Cardinal Stepinac's imprisonment and internment, expressed his
profound belief in the redeeming power of human suffering. With stoic
perseverance he intensified his efforts, his enormous power of work, as if he
would have liked to justify Camus last words in his famous essay: Il faut
imaginer Sisyphe beureux. We might paraphrase it: In spite of all, Sisyphus is
happy.
On the eve of World War II
Meštrović's prayer was not heard in his country. But now my generation and
especially those who follow us see in him a great Croatian who, to use his own
words, announces a glorious Sunday after a Good Friday.
Postscript:
My memories of Ivan Meštrović also recounted in the journal Hrvatska
Revija, first issue for 1983. The above is not a translation; rather a
complement.
[1] Eterovich. Francis H. and Christopher Spalatin (ed.), Croatia: Land, People, Culture, part I (Toronto, 1964), p. X.
[2] Idem, ibid.
[3] Uspomene na političke ljude i dogadjaje (Zagreb, 1969), p. 296.
[4] See Meštrović's conversations with prominent Serbians Slobodan Jovanović, Bob. Marković and Bogdan Popović in Uspomene ... pp. 256-262.
[5] Uspomene ..., p. 352.