Artist of the day

Wednesday, April 29, 2026

Artist of the Day, April 29, 2026 : Ivan Meštrović, a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer (#2513)

Ivan Meštrović (1883 – 1962) was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavao Bilinić's Stone Workshop in Split and at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where he was formed under the influence of the Secession. He traveled throughout Europe and studied the works of ancient and Renaissance masters, especially Michelangelo, and French sculptors Auguste Rodin, Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Maillol. He was the initiator of the national-romantic group Medulić (he advocated the creation of art of national features inspired by the heroic folk songs). During the First World War, he lived in emigration. After the war, he returned to Croatia and began a long and fruitful period of sculpture and pedagogical work. In 1942 he emigrated to Italy, in 1943 to Switzerland and in 1947 to the United States. He was a professor of sculpture at the Syracuse University and from 1955 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.

Most of his early works of symbolic themes were formed in the spirit of the Secession, some of which, like the Well of Life, show impressionist restless surfaces created under the influence of Rodin's naturalism, and the second, reviving national myth, become stylized monumental plastics. Before the First World War, he left pathetic epic stylization, expressing increasingly emotional states, as evidenced by the wooden reliefs of biblical themes made in a combination of Archaic, Gothic, Secessionist and Expressionist styles. During the 1920s and 1930s, the classical component prevailed in his works. In this period, he created a number of public monuments of strong plastic expression, pronounced and legible shapes.

Meštrović achieved works of strong plastic value in the construction-sculptural monuments and projects, mostly with central layout. He also designed a memorial church of King Zvonimir in Biskupija near Knin inspired by old Croatian churches, a representative family palace, today the Ivan Meštrović Gallery, and reconstructed renaissance fortified mansion Crikvine-Kaštilac in Split.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Ivan Meštrović or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only

Ivan Meštrović

Well of Life, c.1905

Miloš Obilić, c.1908

Widow, c.1908

Portrait of Marko Nakić, c.1910

Sphinx, c.1911

Christ on the Cross, c.1913

The Apparition, c.1913

St. John the Baptist, c.1914

Annunciation, c.1915

St. Luke the Evangelist, c.1915

Domagoj's Archers, c.1917

Madonna and Child, c.1917

Woman at Prayer, c.1917

Girl Playing a Mandolin, c.1918

Girl with a Lute, c.1918

King Petar I. Karadjordjevic, c.1920s

Portrait of King Alexander I Karađorđević, c.1922

Bust of Josip Juraj Strossmayer, c.1923-24

Contemplation, c.1924

Portrait of Milica Banać The Muse, c.1925

Seated Girl, c.1925

Study of an Angel, c.1925

Girl with harp, c.1927

In Despair, c.1927

Pensive Woman, c.1927

Psyche, c.1927

Girl with a Lute, c.1927-28

The Bowman and the Spearman, c.1928

Gregory of Nin, c.1929

History of the Croats, c.1932

Tuesday, April 28, 2026

Artist of the Day, April 28, 2026 : Sagi Haviv, an American graphic artist. (#2512)

Sagi Haviv (1974) is a New York graphic designer and a partner in the design firm Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. He is best known for having designed the trademarks and visual identities for brands and institutions such as Discovery, Inc.'s online streaming service Discovery+, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum, the US Open tennis tournament, Conservation International, Harvard University Press, L.A. Reid's Hitco Entertainment, and tech and electric car company Togg.

Haviv was born in Nachshonim, Israel, where he spent his early life. He studied at the Telma Yelin art high school in Givataim. In 1996, Haviv moved to New York. He studied graphic design at The Cooper Union School of Art where he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts.

Haviv joined Chermayeff & Geismar in 2003. There he created Logomotion, a ten-minute motion graphics tribute to the firm’s famous logos, which was exhibited in New York , at Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., at the Ginza Graphic Gallery in Tokyo, at Centro in Mexico City, and at the Pera Museum in Istanbul.

In 2006 Haviv became a partner at Chermayeff & Geismar. In 2013, his name was added to the company's masthead, making it Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. He has since developed institutional and corporate identities, print and motion graphics, and art in architecture for a diverse array of clients worldwide. Haviv’s motion graphics work includes the main titles for PBS documentary series Carrier and Circus, and a typographic animation for Alicia Keys and Youssou N’dour’s 2009 performance at The Black Ball.

In 2011, he co-authored with Tom Geismar and Ivan Chermayeff the book Identify: Basic Principles of Identity Design in the Iconic Trademarks of Chermayeff & Geismar. The book was published by Print magazine's book imprint.

In 2018, he co-authored Identity: Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv. The book was published by Standards Manual

Haviv has spoken about logo design at the Adobe Max Creativity Conference, TEDx, the AIGA, the HOW Design Conference, the Brand New Conference, Princeton University, the Onassis Foundation, the American Advertising Federation, Columbia Business School, Creative Mornings, and Collision.

He has served as jury chair for the Clio Awards and the Art Directors Club and was the jury president for the 2019 D&AD Awards.

Haviv teaches corporate identity design at The School of Visual Arts in New York City.

In 2004, Haviv received the Tokyo Type Directors Club award for Logomotion, for which he also won an award from the New York Art Directors Club.

© 2026. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Sagi Haviv/Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only