Summary
A sculptor who grew up in Supetar and spent the final period of his life there. His monuments, funerary sculpture and design for the bell tower in Ložišća connect Brač with the development of modern Croatian sculpture.
Rendić was born in Imotski; Supetar was the home of his childhood and later work.
Supetar as a base throughout his life
Ivan Rendić began sculpting as a boy in Supetar. After studying in Venice and further training in Florence, he worked in Zagreb and Trieste. In 1921 he returned permanently to Supetar, intending to establish an art and stone-carving school there; the plan was never realized.
Sources: [1]
Monuments and the bell tower in Ložišća
He made portraits, public monuments and funerary ensembles, combining academic realism with later Art Nouveau forms. The bell tower beside the Church of St John and Paul in Ložišća was built to his design. His biography and a local tourism account give different dates for the tower, so his authorship can be stated with greater certainty than a single definitive completion year.
Rendić and Rosandić in Supetar
Toma Rosandić created the Petrinović Family Mausoleum, a commission Rendić had earlier expected to receive. This episode connects their biographies through the same monument. It does not mean that they worked on the mausoleum together.
Where to encounter his work
The Ivan Rendić Gallery preserves a memorial collection of the sculptor’s work. His works are also present in the town and at the Supetar cemetery, so his biography can be traced across more than one site. The gallery is a starting point for exploring his work, not his birthplace.
Sources: [4]
