Ivan Mestrovic spent his childhood in Otavice, a poor village of Dalmatinska Zagora. He also spent a year (1900) as an apprentice in Harald Bilinic's stonemason's workshop in Split and then went to study at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (1901-1906), just as the secession movement was reaching its peak.

Ivan Mestrovic's style changed several times, and he engaged in many activities: he was a sculptor, the author of several architectonic and literary works, and a participant in important political events. The young Mestrovic was affirmed as an artist between 1903 and 1910, through his group exhibitions with the Vienna Secession* group of artists. Most of his early works were highly symbolic such as The Fountawww.mdc.hr (Ivan Mestrovic Museums)
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