The 1st International Exhibition of Graphic Arts

Grand Prix:

Armin Landeck

Prix d’Honneur:

Germaine Richier

International Jury Prizes:

France Mihelič, Fritz Pauli, Heinz Kliemann, Lojze Spacal, Anthony Gross, Johnny Friedlaender, Jean-Jacques De Grave, Voitto Vikainen, Andrzej Rudzinski

3. 7.–4. 9. 1955

Number of artists in the main exhibition: 151

Main exhibition venues:

Moderna galerija, Ljubljana

The 1st International Exhibition of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana was the largest of its kind after the Second World War. The only condition for participating in the Ljubljana Biennial was the quality of the graphic print produced in any reproductive printmaking technique in a limited edition. During the period of the greatest ideological rift between East and West, the organisers did not only manage to bring together artists from the two opposing poles, but also those from the “Third World”. More artists than expected responded to the invitations. However, participation from the Eastern Bloc countries could not be swayed as the artists there were selected and sent by the representative bodies of those countries. The democratic and open principle of the exhibition, as well as the participation of many representatives of the École de Paris, were significant for the show’s initial success (featuring 144 graphic prints by the representatives of the École de Paris brought from Paris by Zoran Kržišnik with the help of Veno Pilon and Zoran Mušič). At the end of 1955, the Secretariat for the Organisation of International Exhibitions of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana was established, whose domain it was to popularise the graphic arts at home and promote the local graphic arts abroad. It was decided that the exhibitions would be held every other year in line with the bold wish to present “a graphic map of the world” in Ljubljana. This was gradually brought to fruition to a greater and greater extent with the rich heritage of the event.


Artists

  • Raymond Abner
  • Henry Georges Adam
  • Irving Amen
  • Jean-Michel Atlan
  • Leonard Baskin
  • Werner Berg
  • Anna-Eva Bergman
  • Vesna Borčić
  • Jacques Boullaire
  • Serge Brignoni
  • Camille Bryen
  • Massimo Campigli
  • Jozef Cantré
  • Geoffrey Clarke
  • Antoni Clavé
  • Ina Colliander
  • Lucien Coutaud
  • Andras Csánady
  • Avgust Černigoj
  • Stojan Ćelić
  • Jean Jacques de Grave
  • Chantal de Hemptinne
  • Jean de Moal
  • Riko Debenjak
  • Oktay Dikmen
  • Harry Disberg
  • Oscar Dominguez
  • Jozsef Domján
  • Jean Dubuffet
  • Albert Dumouchel
  • Nicolas Eekman
  • Max Ernst
  • M. C. Escher
  • Eleanor Esmonde-White
  • Maurice Estève
  • Vladimir Favorskij
  • Hans Fischer
  • Antonio Frasconi
  • Johnny Friedlaender
  • Ali T. German
  • Léon Gischia
  • Gino Gregori
  • H. A. P. Grieshaber
  • Anthony Gross
  • Hans Hartung
  • Stanley W. Hayter
  • Henri Heerbrandt
  • Gertrude Hermes
  • Erkki Hervo
  • Maria Hiszpańska-Neumann
  • Vincent Hložnik
  • Max Hunziker
  • Božidar Jakac
  • Hans Jelinek
  • Buffie Johnson
  • Asger Jorn
  • Andrzej Jurkiewicz
  • Boško Karanović
  • Henri Kerels
  • Evgenij Kibrik
  • Albert Kinert
  • Toimi Kiviharju
  • Heinz Kliemann
  • Laura Knight
  • Misch Kohn
  • Tetsuro Komai
  • Tone Kralj
  • Bayram Kücük
  • Armin Landeck
  • Berto Lardera
  • Mauricio Lasansky
  • Nora Lavrin
  • Fernand Léger
  • André Lhote
  • Miha Maleš
  • Alfred Manessier
  • Frank Martin
  • Frans Masereel
  • France Mihelič
  • Henry Spencer Moore
  • Norma Morgan
  • Kaiko Moti
  • Zoran Mušič
  • Gheorghe Naum
  • Roland Neuer
  • Jack Nichols
  • Ben Nicholson
  • Hans Orlowski
  • Otto Pankok
  • Aldo Patocchi
  • Fritz Pauli
  • Ilia Petrov
  • Helen Philipps
  • Jean Piaubert
  • Pablo Picasso
  • Leona Pierce
  • Edouard Pignon
  • Veno Pilon
  • Marjan Pogačnik
  • Jacobus Marie Prange
  • Mario Prassinos
  • Marij Pregelj
  • Zlatko Prica
  • Krishna Reddy
  • Josip Restek
  • Ceri Richards
  • Germaine Richier
  • Gust Romijn
  • Blair Rowlands Hughes-Stanton
  • Andrzej Rudzinski
  • Pietro Sanchini
  • Giuseppe Santomaso
  • Gérard Schneider
  • Maksim Sedej
  • Junichiro Sekino
  • Vilko Selan-Gliha
  • Gino Severini
  • Rupert Shephard
  • Munakata Shiko
  • Gustave Singier
  • Bruno Skibbe
  • Slavi Soucek
  • Lojze Spacal
  • Mladen Srbinović
  • Zora Staack
  • Veselin Staikov
  • Jean Al. Steriadi
  • Jaromir Stretti-Zamponi
  • Bela Gy Szabo
  • Rudolf Szyszkowitz
  • Aleksandar Šivert
  • Max Švabinsky
  • Erkki Talari
  • Kostia Terechkovitch
  • Tilmans
  • Edgard Tytgat
  • Dirk van Gelder
  • Georgij Verejskij
  • Voitto Vikainen
  • Giuseppe Viviani
  • Lynd Ward
  • Clifford Webb
  • Herman Webster
  • Toon Wegner
  • Shirley Witebsky-Reddy
  • Adam Würtz
  • Ossip Zadkine
  • Vassil Zakhariev
  • Wou-ki Zao
  • Emil Zbinden
  • Mogens Zieler

International Jury

  • Aleksa Čelebonović
  • Karel Dobida
  • Božidar Jakac
  • Zoran Kržišnik
  • Giuseppe Marchiori
  • Aldo Patocchi
  • Stella Ubel

Publications

Biennale Organisation

Organiser: Moderna galerija, Ljubljana.
Director of Moderna galerija: Zoran Kržišnik.
President of the committee: Josip Vidmar.
Secretary of the committee: Zoran Kržišnik.
Organising committee for the exhibition: Izidor Cankar, Riko Debenjak, Karel Dobida, Božidar Jakac, Zoran Kržišnik, Miha Maleš, France Mihelič, Zvone Miklavčič, France Stele, Josip Vidmar.