At the Intersection of Mobility and Social Networks: A Biographical Sketch of Ivana Kobilca

Abstract

The author explores the biographical aspects of Ivana Kobilca’s life to explain how this native of Ljubljana, a parochial 19th century Habsburg town, managed to become a successful artist. Not a member of high society, she travelled abroad, studied art and lived in several major European cities. Kobilca’s story, with a special focus on her mobility and social network, reveals her ingenious strategies to overcome barriers that limited the artistic expression of women during the belle époque. The study is based on a variety of egodocuments, biographical studies and historiographical references that place aspects of Kobilca’s history into a broader socio-cultural context.