It is less known that Ivan Mestrovic, one of the greatest sculptors of the 20th century, was born in our county (Vrpolje near Slavonski Brod, August 15, 1883). He studied in Vienna, toured the whole of Europe, lived in emigration during the First World War. war and then he returned to his homeland where he achieved his greatest creative achievements between the two wars. He emigrated to Italy at the beginning of the war and lived in America after the war. He was Professor of Sculpture at Syracuse University and then since 1955 in South Bend. His extraordinary sculptural talent is evident in the lyrical and dramatic expression of the human body, which makes him one of the prominent figures of world art of the first half of the 20th century and undoubtedly among the most prominent Croatian artists whose work has received worldwide recognition in his time. The “Ivan Meštrović” Memorial Gallery was opened in Vrpolje in 1972, with about forty of his works.
