Toma Rosandić (Serbian Cyrillic:Тома Росандић; baptized as Tomaso Vincenzo, 22 January 1878 – 1 March 1958) was aCroatian,[1][2]Serbian andYugoslav sculptor, architect and fine artspedagogue. Together withIvan Meštrović (1883–1962),Frano Kršinić andAntun Augustinčić, he was the most prominent of Croatian and Yugoslav sculptors of his day.
Rosandić was born to a Serbian orthodox family in theDalmatian city ofSplit,Kingdom of Dalmatia,Austria-Hungary, the son of a stoneworker. The family name, Rosandić originates from Cetinska Krajina, in the Dalmatian Hinterlands. During the early years in Split, Rosandić learnt to carve in wood as well as stone and was much inspired by the youngerMeštrović who had moved there fromOtavice. Both sculptors studied overseas before returning to Split, Rosandić touring Italy and exhibiting inMilan in 1906 andBelgrade in 1912.
He exhibited his artworks as a part ofKingdom of Serbia'spavilion atInternational Exhibition of Art of 1911.[3]
Something of their parallel development and underlying rivalry can be understood from their respective projects to combine sculpture and architecture. Both constructed a mausoleum, Rosandić for the Petrinović family (Supetar, on the island ofBrač off Split) and Meštrović to the Račić family (Cavtat, south ofDubrovnik). Each exhibit the influence of Dalmatian history, but while Meštrović's mausoleum is based on the principle of simplicity, Rosandić richly ornamented his building with a blend ofGothic andRenaissance motifs to express a more national character.
With the outbreak ofWorld War I, Rosandić left for London where he exhibited at theGrafton Galleries in 1917 and later inBrighton andEdinburgh. DuringWorld War II, Rosandić settled inBelgrade. He was interned by the German occupation forces during the war, but was later released through the intervention ofDragomir Jovanović. Rosandić later testified at theBelgrade Process.
Rosandić was a member of theSerbian Academy of Sciences and Arts since 1948. He founded a prominent school in Belgrade known as the "Master Workshop". Amongst the many artists and public personalities that frequented the workshop wasHenry Moore, during his exhibition in Belgrade in March 1955.
In his maturity, Rosandić executed two of his greatest masterpieces: the pair of stone statues of a man struggling with a horse, which flank the entrance to the Serbian National Assembly building inBelgrade, and a massive stone frieze of figures for a monument inSubotica,Serbia (1952). Many of his bronze projects at this time were cast in theVoždovac foundry and other works by his hand can be found at the Toma Rosandić Memorial Museum and theMuseum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade.
Rosandić returned toSplit before his death in 1958.
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