St. Nicholas Catholic Church Murals - Millvale, Pennsylvania - Murals on Waymarking.com

[source: Parish website]
The walls and ceiling of St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church are decorated with elaborate tempera paintings by artist Maxo Vanka (1890-1963). The murals tell the story of the Croatian peasants who left their native farm lands at the turn of the 20th century to seek a better life in the post-industrial United States of America. The evocative murals also capture Vanka's strong belief about the futilty of war and his sadness about the destruction of the motherland.

Maxo Vanka emigrated to the United Sates from Zagreb in Croatia in the mid 1930s. He was well known as a professional artist throughout all of Europe. In 1937, Father Albert Zagar commissioned him to begin a series of murlas at St. Nicholas Church. In eights weeks during the spring of 1937, Vanka completed eleven paintings.

By 1941, Vanka had become a US citizen and a resident of Bucks County in Pennsylvania. He returned to Millvale in the summer of 1941 to complete his second cycle of murals, a series dominated by his anguish over the war in Europe and the brutal factionalism brought by it to the Yugoslav states.

Father Zagar gave Maxo a free hand to give life to his powerful feelings about spirituality, humanity, history and politics. When Vanka finished his work he declared,"These murals are my contribution to America -- not only mine, but my immigrant people's, who are grateful, like me, that they are not in the slaughter of Europe."

A period of anarchy led to intervention by Hungary. Except for brief occupation by the Turks and the French, Croatia was an autonomous kingdom under Hungarian rule until 1102, which continued when Austria-Hungary was formed in 1897. The majority of Croatians came to America between 1880 and 1920 to escape economic hardships, political persecution, and interference with individual freedom.

Today they stand as a moving tribute to the people of Croatia, the Croatian immigrant and all immigrants to the United States. They are among the most striking and provocative murals found anywhere in the world. Maxo Vanka's twenty murals, combined with a more contemporary and complimentary mural by J I Knezevich, form a unique church artwork that combines secular and ecclesiastical images with startling interpretations of 20th century historic events.

City: Millvale, Pennsylvania Location Name: St Nicholas Catholic Church Artist: Maxo Vanka Date: 1941 Media: acrylic on plaster Relevant Web Site: [Web Link]

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