Monday, May 23, 2011

Museum of Kragujevac: Portrait of Serbian Commanders, XIX. CENTURY SERBIAN ART

Portrait of Nastas Georgijevic Arslan

Artist
Lavrentije Konstantin Brankovan


Portrait of Stevan Jovanovic

Artist
Stevan Todorovic


Portrait of Ilija Popovic

Artist
Uros Knezevic


Portrait of Tanasija Vukicevic

Artist
Uros Knezevic


Portrait of Prince Milos Obradovic

Artist
Pavle Cortanovic


Stevan (Steva) Todorović was one of the main representatives of the Serbian romanticism. In the spirit of romanticism he painted portraits and historical compositions which have been preserved till nowadays. He is considered to be the author of the first free landscape in modern Serbian art. There were some very unusual themes in his work, such as the composition Gymnastic Society. He also painted iconostasis. He was a respected painter,citizen, versatile personality and initiator of numerous projects such as the establishment of Serbian Amateur Theater, periodization of Serbian art.
However, he was not only a painter, but also an actor, singer, gymnast and teacher of drawing. He wrote in his autobiography that he studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in the class of Professor Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, yet his name cannot be found in the student’s records. Nevertheless, he left behind more than thousand paintings and numerous aquarelles and drawings, among which the portrait of Kornelije Stanković and historical composition Hajduk Veljko by Cannon. To this day he is recognized as one of the most important representatives of Serbian Romanticism.
Stevan Todorovic painted "Portrait of Stevan Jovanovic" (The Javor's hero, Serbian lieutenant who died in the battle of Javor during the Serbian-Turkish wars 1876-1878)

Uroš Knežević (1811–1876) was a Serbian painter born in the town of Sremski Karlovci, to father Teodor and mother Julijana. Even though he spent most of his life in Serbia, there is very little information about his life. About his first years of education the artist himself wrote that he had enjoyed drawing even as a child and that he felt thoroughly devoted to that "wonderful art" of drawing. He first studied drawing at the Sremski Karlovci high school. He moved from Vojvodina to Serbia in 1834, where he actively practiced painting until 1844. His work was essential in introducing art to Serbia and educating the local population in art appreciation. During his time in Serbia he supported himself by painting portraits of the local nobility and prominent citizens. However, the local population was still quite unwelcoming of the art, and the portrait fees were often not paid. This made it difficult for Knežević to earn enough to support himself, let alone to save enough for his education in Vienna which he so passionately wanted. Even the royal family refused to pay for the many portraits, coats of arms and other symbols that Knežević made for them. Finally, he found well-paying work in painting walls and icons for Belgrade churches. This enabled him to save enough to fulfill his dream of studying in Vienna. About his stay in Vienna he wrote that it had been a very happy time of his life, and he had been the happiest when his work was recognized by being exhibited in the Viennese Art Exhibition of 1846. However, the Viennese Royal Art Academy did not even have a record of his name among the students. Some sources indicate that Knežević also painted the portraits of Vuk Stefanović Karadžić (Serbian linguist and reformer of the Serbian language) and his family.
He is considered the foremost Serbian portraitist of the nineteenth century. He died in 1876 in Belgrade, Serbia.

Pavle Čortanović (1830-1903) he enrolled at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1851, however he never finished his studies. The best guidance and teaching in art, he received from his father Petar Čortanović, who was also a painter. His spatiality was etching but he painted altarpiece as well.
Pavle Čortanović - Portrait of Prince Milos Obradovic, the Duke in the first Serbian uprising and the leader of the second insurrection, Prince and ruler of Serbia

No comments:

Post a Comment