Biography

Vanka was born in Zagreb in 1889.[1] He was sent to live with peasants, but at the age of eight was discovered by his maternal grandfather and sent to live in a castle. He studied art in Zagreb, Croatia and Brussels, Belgium. During World War I, he served with the Belgian Red Cross, because he was a pacifist and would not serve in the regular army. He taught art in Zagreb, but went to America in 1935[1] with his wife, Margaret Stetten Vanka, and their daughter, Peggy. Vanka's most important works are his Millvale Murals in the St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church, the first Croatian Catholic parish in the United States, in Millvale, Pennsylvania, which depict Christ and Mary in images of war and offer social commentary on world events like fascism, war, and poverty. Murals painted in 1937[1] depict Croatian immigrants coming to America to seek a better life, grateful to have escaped the slaughter taking place in their homeland. This was Vanka's [sic] "Mothers offer up their sons for labor" theme, a tribute to all those who worked diligently in the mills and mines in and around Pittsburgh. One mural depicts the fire and collapse of one of the coal burning mills and as a Croatian mother cradles her dead son, her other three sons rush into the mill to save their fellow workers and are killed. A committed pacifist, the intensity of Vanka's beliefs are depicted clearly in post-war murals. One is of the Virgin Mary coming between two warring soldiers. Another depicts two soldiers battling each other, yet this time it is Jesus who attempts to intercede and one of the soldiers accidentally thrusts his bayonet into Jesus' heart. (From Wikipedia)