Ljubo Babić

Ljubo Babić
Ljubo Babić, photo
Born	(1890-06-14)14 June 1890 Jastrebarsko, Austria-Hungary (present-day Republic of Croatia)
Died	14 May 1974(1974-05-14) (aged 83) Zagreb, SFR Yugoslavia (present-day Croatia)
Nationality	Austria-Hungary Yugoslavia
Education	Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
Known for	Oil painting, watercolour, Graphic arts, theatrical set design, art history, author, curator
Movement	Modern Art

Ljubomir Tito Stjepan Babić (14 June 1890 – 14 May 1974) was a Yugoslav Croatian painter, graphic artist, theatrical set and costume designer, teacher, art historian, critic, and museum curator. As an artist, he worked in a variety of media including oils, tempera, watercolour, drawing, etching, and lithography. He was one of the most influential figures in the Zagreb art scene between the two world wars.

He collaborated with director Branko Gavella in creating a series of set designs for the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb. In 1940 he became a full professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb. He held exhibitions at home and abroad and published many articles on art history and critiques of contemporary art events. He wrote and illustrated many books, worked on designs for posters, interiors and decorative arts objects.

Ljubomir Tito Stjepan Babić was born in Jastrebarsko on 14 June 1890, the son of Judge Antun Babić and Milka (née Kovačić), and nephew of the author Ljubo Babić (better known as Ksaver Šandor Gjalski). The Babić family had been raised to the nobility in 1716 by Charles VI Habsburg. The Babić family seat was Gredice near Zabok, which had been purchased by Babić's grandfather.

Following his father's work transfers, young Ljubo attended elementary school in Slatina, Glina and Jastrebarsko. He attended high school in Bjelovar, with the final two years in the Donji Grad gymnasium in Zagreb. During that time, he attended private art school with Menci Clement Crnčić and Bela Čikoš Sesija, and took classes at the School of Arts and Crafts. After completing high school in 1908, at his father's encouragement he enrolled in the Faculty of Law at Zagreb University, but soon abandoned his studies for painting.

Thanks to a scholarship from Count Teodor Pejačević Babić was able to attend the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich where he studied painting with Angelo Jank (1910–11), and Franz von Stuck (1911–13). In Munich, he completed a course of artistic anatomy at the Medical School while also studying set design at the Künstlertheater. In 1913-14 he went on to complete his art studies in Paris, returning to his homeland at the beginning of the First World War.