6/11/07 - Stjepan Mestrovic’s new book explores life of Croatian sculptor

Even though he didn’t know his grandfather, sculptor Ivan Mestrovic, Sociology Professor Stjepan Mestrovic has tried to provide a more accurate portrayal in his latest book, Heart of Stone: My Grandfather, Ivan Mestrovic. The book was published by Mozaik Knjiga in Croatia and released the last week in May.

The title examines Ivan’s difficult personality, which plagued his family but sustained his art. Ivan Mestrovic is renowned as possibly the greatest sculptor of religious subject matter since the Renaissance. Born in 1883, he grew up in Otavice in the Dalmatian hinterland then moved to Vienna to study at the Art Academy. In 1908 Mestrovic moved to Paris and after two years there earned international reputation for creating over 50 monuments.

After living and working in Europe for 30 years, Ivan relocated to the United States. In the U.S. he taught at Syracuse University and the University of Notre Dame. President Dwight D. Eisenhower personally presided over his American citizenship ceremony in 1954. Two of Mestrovic’s more famous religious statues depict Job and Moses; both are housed at Syracuse University in New York. He died in 1962.

Stjepan Mestrovic holds a Ph.D. from Syracuse University, two Master’s degrees from Harvard University, and has been teaching at Texas A&M since 1991. He is the author of 14 books and numerous articles. His particular areas of interest include Abu Ghraib, culture, and race and ethnic studies in the Balkans.

Erin Wood