February 24, 1925 – Painter Avgust Lavrenčič was born in Rogaška Slatina, died on July 5, 1996.
He was born in Rogaška Slatina, and moved to Celje at the age of four. Already in kindergarten, he became acquainted with the theater, which made a strong impression on him. He attended the city school, and then continued his education at the gymnasium, where he preferred drawing, natural history and physics. He also devoted a lot of time to work in the Aeroclub's modeling circle. Already during his gymnasium period, under the influence of famous artists (Cvetko Ščuka, Miroslav Modica and Albert Sirek), he developed an attitude towards painting.
He completed a short matriculation examination, then at the beginning of the war he was mobilized to England, where he was held prisoner. He returned to Celje only in 1945 and the following year he started working in the carving and gilding workshop of master Hohnjec, and later as a technical draftsman in the Beton company. There, his talent was noticed and he was encouraged to study painting. He first completed the Secondary School of Design and in 1951 enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana, graduating in 1954.
After completing his studies, he returned to Celje. Until 1966, he worked as an art teacher in Celje, Laško and Žalec, and then decided to pursue an independent artistic path as a freelance artist. In 1962/1963, he was invited to work as a set designer at the Slovenian Theatre in Celje, thus beginning his long-term collaboration with Slovenian theatres. He created around a hundred sets. His favourites were for the performances: Stalin's Doctors, Murder in the Cathedral, Amphitryon, Soldiers, Equs, The Count of Celje on a Stallion and others.
Among his early works, in the early 1960s, one can still feel his attachment to the academy and the influences of Sedej, Preglj, Stupica and Kos, while in the 1970s the period of surrealism began. He mainly used the technique of simulated painted collage, with the help of which he achieved surrealistic effects related to intimism. In watercolor, he painted unreal seascapes and nature without figures. His later works were oil paintings of larger formats, where he established a solid composition and considered color harmony. He liked to paint scenes from nature, which he placed in an imaginary, dreamlike world.
He was very active in culture. He founded the Celje Art Salon, was president of the Fine Artists' Association, and was one of the founders of the Celje Dance Orchestra Žabe, where he played guitar, drums, and trombone.
He also received a number of awards, both for his stage designs and for his painting work. In 1972, he received the Borštnik diploma and a cash prize for stage design for the play Stalin's Doctors. In 1974, he received the Prešeren Fund Award for his "artistic work".
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