Stjepan Divković was born at Pogoric in 1961 and studied sculpture at the Zagreb Academy of Figural Arts, graduating from the class of Stipe Sikirica in 1986. He first lived and worked in Osijek, and later moved to Zagreb, to Dedići. In his early days, having modelled good full sculpture, both large and small – something which he has not ceased to do - he never considered becoming a medallist. Yet with time he became one of the best and most productive in Croatia, which means something, because this country boasts of a considerable number of talented medal-makers of all generations. Divković, now belonging to the middle-aged generation, is one of the representatives of the classical, traditional medal, and a virtuoso when low relief and first-class lettering, last seen on Kerdić's medals, are in question. Besides this, his portraits of both living and dead persons depicted on medals are indeed excellent. If the portrait of a person from the remote history has to be made, he can easily borrow the likeness of a neighbour for it. Before starting to make a medal he always approaches to the task very thorougly, thinking how to combine the obverse with a matching reverse. Therefore many sketches and drawings precede the final product in plasteline, clay and plaster. The first portrait medals he modelled, still as a student, in 1986, were in clay: the bust of his teacher, the great Croatian master of the medal Želimir Janeš. The second one, the Maslarić Award medal (1987), was already struck, in relatively deep relief, a manner which he soon abandoned, continuing in very low, subtle relief. The latest medal was commissioned by in 2012 the Croatian Natural History Museum and depicts the world-famous anthropologist Dragutin Gorjanović Kramberger and this medal can be seen at the exhibition in all its stages, which were also filmed. On the whole his oeuvre is indeed that of a hard-working artis. There are approximately 170 medals by Divković, shown in c. 280 items within the frame of this exhibition, in various size and material. They can be divided into several groups: award, portrait, church, secular, sports and memorial medals. Many have been struck in various metal, for instance at the Zagreb Mint (Croatian Monetary Institute) and issued by the Croatian National Bank, some in Switzerland and even Canada. The remainder was cast in bronze. Several projects were never finalized and remain in plaster, other unused solutions were adapted later for other purpose. Quite a few of the struck medals have become very popular, particularly the Our Lady of the Stone Gate in Zagreb medal (gold, silver). A collection of medals consists of portrait medals of some of Croatian archaeologists from the past and present, some of which are also award medals. S. Divković has shown his medals at several group exhibitions – quite regularly at the Ivo Kerdić Memorial, as well as the FIDEM (Fédération Internationale de la Médaille) exhibitions. The present exhibition is S. Divković's first solo exhibition.