Marginalized for his anti-Communist views, France Gorše was forced to pursue his artistic career abroad, but ultimately emerged as a leading Slovenian sculptor.

Born in the Slovenian village of Zamostec in 1897, Gorše was one of the twelve children in his rural household. Like many young men of his generation, he served in the Austro-Hungarian army during World War I and experienced fighting on the bloody Italian front. After the war, he moved to Zagreb, where he studied art under the tutelage of the famed sculptor Ivan Meštrović.

Between the wars, Gorše traveled extensively throughout Europe and lived in several cities before settling in Ljubljana. He developed a distinct sculptural style featuring light, highly stylized figures, combined with religious and historic imagery.

He was deeply committed to Slovenia’s art scene and founded a newspaper covering the arts. He also opened his own private art school, which enabled him to pass on his knowledge to future generations.

His art school remained open during World War II, which displeased the Communist-dominated Liberation Front, which had urged Slovenians to refrain from all cultural activities. Because of his art school and anti-Communist views, Gorše left Slovenia for Trieste, Italy, after the war. In the 1950s, he moved to the United States – first to Cleveland, the city with the largest Slovenian population, and then to cosmopolitan New York.

He continued his career in the New World and began to incorporate new materials into his sculptures. Among other projects, he furnished a church in Washington, D.C., with his art.

Gorše returned to Slovenia in 1971, but the Communist regime canceled an exhibition of his works. Frustrated and disappointed, he moved to the historically Slovenian village of Sveče (Suetschach) just across the border in Austria. He transformed an old homestead into a studio and continued to work there well into his old age. His new home had a symbolic significance: the sculptor’s work frequently featured scenes from the proto-Slovenian state of Carantania, which had once existed in the area.

Gorše died in 1986, and his house and studio in Sveče are now open to the public. Some of his works are also exhibited in his homeland of Slovenia, the country where he was unwelcome for much of his life, but where his artistic genius has finally found the recognition it has always deserved.