Ivan Kožarić was born on the 10th of June 1921 in Petrinja He studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Art in Zagreb from 1943 - 1947. He completed his specialisation in 1949 with professsor Antun Augustinčić.
He began exhibiting in 1953 and held his first one man show in 1955. In 1959/60 Kožarić spent several months in Pans on a schclarship from the Moša Pijade foundation. This period was very important as if offered the opportunity of gaining a greater insight into European art, but also for evaluating his own creative potential.
With the support of the French critic Jacques Lassaigne, who held Kožarić in great esteem, he began collaborating with the Gallery Maguy which bought several of his works. Regardless of the favorable conditions and the possibility of staying in Paris, Kožarić decided to continue his career in his own country and returned to Zagreb.
At the beginning of the sixties Kožarić joined the Gorgona group, a group of artists which included the most significant names of contemporary Croatian art.
He has exhibited in many important international exhibitions such as the Venice Biennale (1976) and the Biennale in Sao Paulo (1979). His works are held in numerous private collections, and in museums both at home and abroad. Kožarić is also listed in anthologies of world and European sculpture (Michel Seuphor: La sculpture de ce siecle; Nouveau dictionnaire de la sculpture moderne, edition Fernand Hazan, 1970).
Several of his sculptures stand permanently in public spaces, among which the most famous are the statue of A.G.Matoš and Landed Sun in Zagreb. His work has won numerous awards. In 1977 he was awarded the 'Vladimir Nazor' life achievement award. That same year he became a regular member of the Croatian Academy of Science and Art.He has had around 60 one man shows and 200 group shows at home and abroad.
