"Untitled" by Lojze Spacal. 

Lithograph
Dimensions: 70 x 50 cm 
Print number: 11/125

Lojze Spacal, also known as Luigi Spacal, was born in the Karst of Trieste, at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, into a family of Slovenian nationality.

In 1930 he was arrested on charges of anti-fascism and confined for some time to Accettura, in Basilicata. Here he discovered his artistic vocation. In 1934 he graduated from the art school in Venice. He began exhibiting his first works in 1937.

In 1942 he was again sent to confinement, this time in Abruzzo and, later, assigned to a special working battalion in Forte dei Marmi. Nevertheless, he managed to continue to exhibit his works and, in 1944, he set up his first solo show. In 1948 he took part in the Venice biennale for the first time.

In 1958 he won the International Grand Prix "for a drawer and engraver" at the Venice Biennale. In 1959 he was awarded 2nd prize at the International Biennial of Graphic Art in Ljubljana. In 1974 he was awarded the Prešeren prize, the highest Slovenian artistic recognition, and the “San Giusto d'Oro” in 1977. In 1998 a museum was dedicated to him in the castle of San Daniele del Carso.