Ivan Meštrović

Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), Croatian sculptor, known primarily for his religious works and public monuments. Although his expressive style was somewhat influenced by the 20th-century avant garde, particularly the Vienna Secession group, it was more directly dependent on the heroic style of ancient Greek sculpture. Meštrović's diverse work includes war memorials, public monuments, portrait busts, and religious carvings, the best known of which is Archangel Gabriel (c. 1924, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn, New York). His many relief sculptures—some of them adaptations of ancient Assyrian or Babylonian themes—are particularly original and expressive.