Who is Dušan Džamonja?

Dušan Džamonja (31 January 1928 – 14 January 2009) was a contemporary Croatian sculptor of Macedonian ancestry.

Džamonja studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. In 1954 he held his first solo exhibition in the Salon ULUH in Zagreb. In 1970, he began the construction of his house and workshop in Vrsar, Istria according to his own design. Vrsar is also where his famous park of sculptures is placed.

Džamonja draws primarily in chalk and uses the technique of washed ink; however, Džamonja leaned towards sculpture, early on. He has used many materials, from bronze and iron to wood, glass, concrete and polyester in his sculptures.

His art is in numerous public and private collections, museums and galleries in the country and abroad (U.S.A., England, Netherland, Italy).

It's also important to mention his apperance on the XXX. Venice Biennale in 1960. where he was nominated for the Grand Prix of the Biennale.

As a comment to his work Dzamonja said: „I have been drawing for a long period of time and created a vault of ideas for sculptures. I haven't even implemented 10% of these ideas. “

When he was seven he knew he will be a sculptor,and his father was very proud.

And at the age of thirteen he made few sculptures out of clay, but only Homer's head was preserved.

Awards and Accomplishments

He recieved numerous awards and below is a list of the most important ones:

1959 - First Award for sculpture, Rijeka, Croatia 1960 - City of Zagreb Award, Croatia 1965 - Gold Medal for artistic activity, Veruchio, Italy 1968 - Croatia First Award for Memorial Ossuary in

Barletta, Italy 1970 - First Award for Monument to Revolution, Kozara,

Bosnia 1974 - Second Award for design of Memorial Ossuary,

Roma First Award for conceptual design for Memorial to

Victory and Fallen Fighters, Sremski Front 944-45, Yugoslavia

1977 Rembrandt Prize, Goethe Stiftung zu Basel, Switzerland

Monument to the Revolution (1967), World War II memorial in Podgarić, Croatia

Deer, Zagreb

American One: Brown University,Thayer St.,Providence, Rhode Island

Monument to December victims, Zagreb, Dubrava

Metal sculpture - Kröller-Müller Museum

Sculpture Park

In Vrsar, Istria there is one of the most famous cultural tourist attractions: Dušan Džamonja’s Park of Sculptures. On the hills overlooking the sea, over more than 10 hectares of meadows, there are artist’s atelier, workshop and park of sculptures. It displays modern metal and stone sculptures which usually have rounded or curving edges.