Vilko Gecan

Who was Vilko Gecan?

Vilko Gecan was a Croatian painter, influential in the Zagreb modern art scene of the 1920s and 30s. He is best known for his expressionist paintings and drawings, and for his contributions to the local avantgarde magazine Zenit. He showed his work in many solo and group exhibitions in Croatia and abroad. In the Zagreb Spring Salon of the 1920s, he participated with Milivoj Uzelac, Marijan Trepše and Vladimir Varlaj, who together were known as the "Group of Four" or "The Prague Four". Trained in Prague, works of these young painters brought new expressionist ideas that went on to dominate the 1920s Croatian art scene.

Vilko Gecan is considered one of the masters of early Croatian expressionism. Two retrospective exhibitions of his work were organized during Gecan’s lifetime, and a large posthumous exhibition was held in 2005 at the Art Pavilion in Zagreb. Gecan received the Vladimir Nazor Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1967.