Biography

Matko Trebotic was born in 1935 in the town of Milna on the island of Brac in Croatia. After highschool in Split, he graduated from the College of Architecture of the University of Belgrade in 1961. For a while he lived in Zagreb while travelling to Paris and Venice. He painted his first paintings. Soon he found his own artistic idiom and through time perfects his technique, mostly in small oils on wood. His themes, painted in his own inimitable way are elements of the Dalmatian coast, sea shells, the architectural designs of old churches and cypresses as signs of the past, thus creating a singular picture of the history of the region.
His first one-man show was organized in Bochum, Germany in 1969 while he lived and worked in Essen. He did two years of postgraduate work in 1971 and 1972 at the Folkswangschule of Essen in the class of prof. Schardt and in 1973 moved to Dusseldorf. In 1983 he built a house in Split, Croatia where he lives and paints for part of the year. Matko Trebotic has exhibited his work in more than 70 one-man shows and 250 group shows. He has collaborated on folios with some of most famous Croatian poets and designed the scenery for several theatre productions. Several TV documentaries on his work have been filmed over the years and so far four monographs published. He has received many international awards.