Born on 26 October 1926, Slana is known mostly for his paintings, watercolours and prints, but he also dabbled in ceramics and tapestries.

The painter, who graduated from the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts in the class of acclaimed artist Gabrijel Stupica in 1949, has stayed loyal to landscapes, figures and stilllifes throughout his career.

He took images from everyday life of ordinary Joe and presented them in various moods, reads the gallery's website.

Slana said in 2013 he preferred to work in watercolours, because "they are direct, you have to work quickly, while the paper is still moist". "I have developed the most individual technique in watercolours, my style is the most recognisable in them."

On the other hand, he said that oil colours were more demanding, but allowed him to stop and think when creating a painting.

"Anyhow, a good painting is hard to create in any technique," Slana said in an interview for the daily Delo.

Slana, who lived in the Croatian city of Split until second year of high school, joined the anti-Nazi fight in 1943. He started actively paining when he joined the the Partisans.

The painter, who made study trips to France, Norway, Egypt and the US, had the first solo exhibition in 1953. Since then, the number of solo exhibitions has grown to more than 150 across the world.

He received the Prešeren Fund Prize in 1964, for a series of works on Skopje, the Macedonian capital, which was ruined by an earthquake.