Veža Mladen

Mladen Veža was born on 7th February, 1916 in Brist.
He began to paint (and have never stopped) at the age of four or five. In 1927 when he was eleven-year old he made his first sculpture from an olive vein.
In 1928 he was admitted in a distinguished State-owned Crafts School which he finished in 1932 at the age of sixteen. In the year of 1933 before his 17th birthday he enrolled in the Art Academy in Zagreb (today Academy of Fine Arts) where he was studying painting. From the beginning of his studies he got in touch with with famous Vladimir Becić, then the only one alive from the Munchen group of three artists Račić, Kraljević, Becić. Mladen Veža graduated in 1937 in profes­sor Vladimir Becić‘s class.
In 1938 he prepared his first independent exhibition togeth­er with Slavko Kopač in the reputable Zagreb Gallery, at the famous salon of Ulrich in the center of Zagreb.
At the end of 1938 twenty two year old Veža was included at the historical exhibition (important for many things) of the Croatian fine arts - Half a century of the Croatian Arts from 1878 to 1938.
With in the period from 1939 to 1945 Mladen Veža prepared only one independent exhibition which was set in Zagreb in 1940 at the Ulrich salon. At that time Mladen Veža was painting and occasion­ally teaching at schools in Zagreb, Mostar and Karlovac and after 1941 also in the two Zagreb state ­owned secondary schools till 1944 when he was dismissed.
Mladen Veža was being invited, primarily by Ivo Šrepel, director of Gallery of Modern Art in Zagreb, to the representative exhibitions, starting from the exhibition of Half a Century of the Croatian Art in 1938 to the 4th Exhibition of the Croatian Artists in 1944.
Arranged by Gallery of Modern Art, Veža exhibited together with the most representative Croatian living artists.
The year of 1946 marked the beginning of ULUH (Association of the Croatian Fine Artists) exhibi­tions. The first exhibition took place in the Art Pavilion in Zagreb. Veža is one of the founder of the Association, successfully engaged in development of the vital and artistic possibilities of the fine arts and his merits were exceptional but of course, not without any dispute. In any case, time has brought the judgement. Mladen Veža is one of the initiator of LIKUM (Society of the Croatian Fine Artists).
In 1950 Veža lived and created in Paris where he prepared his Parisian cycle or Cycle of Parisian motives which made him famous and recognized. In 1951 Veža prepared his first independent post­war exhibition and the fourth one in his career in Zagreb at the ULUH salon in which the Parisian motives were exhibited.
From 1932 up to the present he has been also active in illustration of books and picture-books. The Artist was consistently painting the cycle of Impressions from Childhood. Since 1968 he has been cooperating with Radost paper.
The period from 1973 to 1997 was the time of distinctive artistic and human recognitions, rewards and very merited medals In 1981 Mladen Veža retired from his post as a professor at Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, but kept on creating tirelessly. His loyalty to his homeland was richly exhibited at his retrospective exhibition taken place in 1997 at the gallery of the House of Croatian Artists.
Mladen Veza died 18.2.2010. in Zagreb.