Miroslav Krleža (1893-1981) was the most celebrated Croatian writer. Last year I was asked to create a poster for the 10th Miroslav Krleža Festival in Zagreb, Croatia. I created Miroslav Krleža’s profile wearing his very characteristic hat. Because one of his most famous novels is titled Zastave (The Flags), I made his profile out of all incarnations of Croatian flags during his lifetime.

The poster was controversial but very successful. It received a lot of awards. It was a tough act to follow when the festival asked me to create a poster for this year. I decided to approach the new poster from a different direction. Now Krleža is facing in a different direction.

Here are the old and new posters together. Krleža is facing himself.

Krleža looks to the left, and Krleža looks to the right.