| Vera
Nikolic Podrinska 1886 - 1972
Education:
Provisional College of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb (1910.-1914),
Academie Julian (Paris,1925.)
Biography: Daughter to the Croatian viceroy Vladimir baron
NIkolic and mother Ella, née baroness Scotti, the future
painter Vera is the last known example of the 19th century
learning tradition where a talented girl of wealthy parents
did not attend a painting school, but rather the school
"came" to her (there were very few parents who
were able to pay the most prominent arts teachers to come
to their house and teach the child). Later she went to art
college, and her income made it possible for her to travel
throughout the world and copy old masters in famous galleries.
At the family estate on Prekrižje in Zagreb, she developed
an interest in photography, and when her father died in
1933, she managed the large estate very well, as witnessed
by diplomas from agricultural shows before the Second World
War. In 1939 she built a villa in Novi Vinodol where her
guests – until she died – included many outstanding artists.
Since her first one man exhibition in 1917 – when she gave
all the money raised through sales to war orphans - until
the Skopje earthquake in 1963, she distinguished herself
as a benefactrice. As a patron of the arts, she took special
care of talented artists of noble origin (Kamilo Tompa,
Leo Junek). Among her literary works, the travel book "Od
Zagreba do Bangkoka" (From Zagreb to Bangkok) (Zagreb,
1955, Ljubljana 1957) is noteworthy.
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