The retrospective exhibition of the great Split sculptor, Andrija Krstulović, opened on the first day of winter at the University Gallery. The exhibition is an introduction to the presentation of a larger work, included in the monograph "Andrija Krstulović", to be presented to the public in the spring of 2023, with which University of Split, wants to honour this great sculptor from Split, teacher and professor insufficiently known to the public and not enough critically evaluated by the profession.
At the very beginning, academic Kažimir Hraste, also one of the authors behind the exhibition, thanked University of Split’s Rector, prof. Dragan Ljutić Ph.D. and emphasized that he is-was responsible for the fact that the Gallery, among other things, turned to promoting its teaching staff - artists who helped built our University.
- This exhibition is an effort to ensure that Andrija Krstulović's work not be forgotten. Students who helped us organize the exhibition were amazed that such artworks laid somewhere hidden. I was fascinated by their enthusiasm, so this exhibition is partly dedicated to them, because they are the ones who inherit Andrija Krstulović, and I think that is the greatest value of this - said academic Kažimir Hraste.
- I didn't know about Andrija Krstulović, nor did I learn much about him during my studies, but he is only now opening up to me in a wonderful way when I look at him from the perspective of today, and not what he meant then. That is what considering an artistic sensibility means. Andrija Krstulović is an archaic, he looks for the essence or soul of the climate – was what, among other things, said Margarita Sveštarov Šimat, one of the authors of the monograph.
Prof. Dragan Ljutić Ph.D., University of Split’s rector, was last to address the visitors and open the exhibition:
- I love art, I love reading about art, and every time I notice that some fifty percent of people in Croatia belong to the Mediterranean basin, which is not so big, but is extremely gifted. We will always give maximum support to our artists, and the monograph "Andrija Krstulović" that will soon be published, is just one in a series. We are the ones who need to preserve our heritage.
Preparations for the exhibition were carried out by professors from University of Split Arts Academy’s Department of Sculpture, Đani Martinić, Goran Balić and Duje Matetić together with students, in cooperation with the Department for Conservation and Restoration, and the entire project’s, as well as Gallery’s manager, Helena Trze Jakelić. Finally, we have to thank Andrija Krstulović's daughter, Tihomila Krstulović, for all her help.