2. 5. 2020–8. 11. 2019 Staying at Home with Zbirka UGM / Elsa Oelrjen Kasimir - Boat

Staying at Home with Zbirka UGM / Elsa Oelrjen Kasimir - Boat

The boat, a symbol of the voyage, of a path meant for the living and the dead, has been transformed by Elsa Oeltjen Kasimir, a painter and sculptor from the Kasimir family of Ptuj, into a space of narratives about two artists torn between two different worlds – the European centres of art of the time, and Varea, a pleasant but insignificant corner of the Haloze region. The encounter between the charismatic cosmopolitan woman, the muse of Kokoschka and Lehmbruck, with Jan Oelten, a painter of peasant ancestry and a man of firm Northern morals, was instrumental for both of them. In her twenties and under some influence of her then mentor, Prof. Metzner, Elsa dedicated herself to small-scale sculpture in terracotta. Among the artist's works from this period, which represent the highlight in her oeuvre, the Boat stands out as an artwork of distinct content and design, despite its miniature dimensions. The sculptor seated the nude figures of the artist couple in the boat that represents the cradle of life. The narrative of the statue is complemented by Cupid at the bow and the Devil at the stern of the boat, as well as by some dates marked on the vessel's sides, which testify to the decade of particular light and darkness in the lives of the depicted couple. A subtle poeticism wrapped in elegant secessionist lines explicitly expresses the beauty of the artwork that transcends both time and space.