Ivana Kobilca (December 20, 1861 - December 4, 1926)
Coffee Drinker by Kobilca inspired Laibach's version, no doubt they were looking for strong Slovene identity for their poster "Ausstellung Laibach Kunst" in SKUC Gallery back in 1983 April. The original painting hangs in the National Gallery in Ljubljana and is called Kofetarica (Coffe Drinker), it was made back in 1888.
Design for the Slovene Parliament in 1947 by Joze Plecnik
Laibach's use of Plecnik's design
Joze Plecnik (1872-1957)
Laibach have made heavy use of Plecnik's design for the Slovene Parliament, as well as featuring in many of their artwork they also created a computer generated model of it for the video of Final Countdown.
Joze Plecnik was a Slovene architect who had given Ljubljana much of its unique identity.
Laibach - Blut und Eisen 1985
Ivan Grohar (1867 - 1911)
Two oil paintings by Slovenian painter Ivan Grohar inspired Laibach Blut und Eisen poster back in 1985. The first one is a smaller one (12,4cm x 16,8cm) from 1906, and the larger one (108cm x 120cm) from 1907. The larger one is in the National Gallery of Ljubljana. Both paintings go by the name "Sejalec".
Eugene Delacroix, Liberty Leading the People
Though not instantly noticeable the famous Eugene Delacroix painting shines through once its origin is discovered. Contrasting the image of Liberty over a scene from the Third Reich, it gives conflicting signals and it usually comes down to the individual how to interpret the image however this is often the desired outcome for Laibach and allowed them to be everything and nothing at the same time. Laibach's use of Delacroix is actually inspired from John Heartfield's poster. Irwin also used the same painting in a similar way to Laibach.
One of the main images of Laibach/NSK is the red deer created around the beginning of Laibach's carear. The image originates from the Tomaz Hostnik painting which was a version of Sir Edwin Landseer's - Monarch of the Glen. Since then copies of Tomaz's deer have been used in several NSK work including the Nova Akropola cover and is now a strong symbol of the NSK. Sir Edwin Landseer born in England was a keen and regular visitor to the Scottish Highlands capturing its rugged beauty and wildlife in many paintings.
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