Milan Konjović

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Milan Konjović
Милан Коњовић
Milan Konjović on a 1998 Yugoslavian stamp
Born(1898-01-28)28 January 1898
Sombor, Austrian Empire
Died20 October 1993(1993-10-20) (aged 95)
Sombor, Yugoslavia
NationalitySerbian
EducationAcademy of Fine Arts, Prague
Known forPainting
MovementExpressionism
Website"Milan Konjovic " Gallery
Signature

Milan Konjović (28 January 1898 – 20 October 1993) (Милан Коњовић) was a prominent Serbian painter whose works can be divided into six periods of artistic style. He studied in many countries abroad and lived in Paris from 1924 to 1932. His long life's work earned him many recognitions as well as a place in the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU).

Life

Milan Konjović finished elementary and secondary school in

Czech painter Jan Zrzavý
introduced him to the art of Leonardo da Vinci. He later brought his studies to Vienna and traveled to German museums in Munich, Berlin, and Dresden.

He arrived in Paris in May 1924 and stayed there until 1932. Afterward, he returned to his native Sombor.[1][2]

His most significant and successful one-man exhibitions include 1931's "Galerie Bing et Cie", 1932 "Galerie van Leer", and 1937 "Galerie Mouradian-Vallotton." He participated in several Paris Salon exhibitions, marked the beginning of his artistic "blue phase", which lasted from 1929 to 1933. In the later years, he devoted himself to painting his hometown Sombor, its landscape, people and milieu. In summertime he painted in the cities of Dalmatia, including Mlini, Cavtat, and Dubrovnik.

Konjović's "red phase" lasted from 1934 till 1940. In 1941 Konjović was in

Byzantine
history.

By the end of 1990 Konjović had produced about thirty new works, completing the impressive opus of about 6000 oil paintings, pastels, watercolors,

mosaics
, and graphics. In his life, Konjović had 297 one-man and 700 group exhibitions in the country and abroad, in such notable locations as Prague, New York, London, Amsterdam, São Paulo, Rome, Modena, Athens, Paris, and Moscow.

His legacy is best represented in his hometown of Sombor where the "Milan Konjović " Gallery,[3] opened on 10 September 1966, holds about 1060 selected works. In 1979 he was elected a member of Vojvodina Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1986 he became a corresponding member of Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts, and in 1992 a member of Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

In June 2008, an exhibition of the works by Milan Konjović was opened in the Milan Konjović Gallery in Sombor to commemorate 110 years from the birth of the artist. Entitled "Milan Konjović: In Defence of the Autonomy of Paintings" (Milan Konjović: Odbrana autonomije slike), the exhibition documented Konjović's output in the period of socialist realism, from 1946 until 1951, when "Marxist" art critics vilified and criticised the artist for (among other things) "painting for himself, instead of for the community".[4]

In November–December 2011, several works by Milan Konjović were included in the exhibition of paintings from the Memorial Collection of Pavle Beljanski in the Central Military Club in Belgrade.[5]

Dr Drasko Redjep notes that Konjović became aware of his own artistic worth very early and always maintained high prices of his paintings, but he also donated them with joyful generosity.[6]

Periods

My studio by Konjović on a 1973 Yugoslavian stamp.

The works of Milan Konjovic are usually divided into several phases:[7]

  • Early Phase (1913–1928)
  • Blue Phase (1929–1933)
  • Red Phase (1934–1940)
  • Gray Phase (1945–1952)
  • Coloristic Phase (1953–1960)
  • Associative Phase (1960–1985)
  • Byzantine Phase (1985–1990)

Short note on style

Milan Konjovic is described as Serbian greatest colourist. Dr Drasko Redjep calls him the painter of the wheat fields, vast plains, Sombor's urban views, and Mediterranean holiday scenery, whose works constitute an important reference point.[6]

He is considered to be one of the most significant exponents of Expressionism of colour in Serbian art between two wars.[8]

Konjovic's mature style of painting is characterised by thick layers of paint. He resorted to pastels in the years after World War II, when there was a shortage of oil paints. Later on, he returned to oils, layering them on the surface in thicker layers than ever; this presents quite a challenge when cleaning some of the paintings. The Byzantine phase of his last years is characterised by thinner layers of paint, with patches of unpainted surface.

Personal

He is related to Brigitte Konjovic, Miss France 1978.

See also

References

  1. ^ Galerija Milan Konjević, Sombor. Globalgreen-so.com. Retrieved on 31 July 2014.
  2. ^ SOMBOR IN THE 20TH CENTURY. The City of Sombor. Sombor.org.rs. Retrieved on 31 July 2014.
  3. ^ The Gallery 'Milan Konjović (Tuner's House or Gale's House). Sycultour.eu. Retrieved on 31 July 2014.
  4. ^ Odbrana autonomije slike. Politika.rs (24 June 2008). Retrieved on 31 July 2014.
  5. ^ Closing of the exhibition of Pavle Beljanski memorial. Ministry of Defence, Republic of Serbia. 28 November 2011
  6. ^ a b Milan Konjović Radiance of our interiors. proartegalerija.com
  7. ^ Milan Konjovic Gallery: Works. Konjovic.rs. Retrieved on 31 July 2014.
  8. ^ Milan Konjović (1898–1993). Artist's short biography. Arte.rs. Retrieved on 31 July 2014.

Further reading

  1. Lazar Trifunovic Reality and myth in the painting of Milan Konjovic Second edition, Sombor, 1990
  2. Miroslav Josic The century of Milan Konjovic (1890–1998)
  3. Milan Konjovic 1898–1993 (Konjovic izbliza) By Irma Lang, publisher: Galerija "Milan Konjovic", 2011,
    ISBN 8688275009
  4. Veliki potpis (The Great Signature) Milan Konjović by Drasko Ređjep, publisher Novi Sad Prometej, 1994,
    ISBN 86-7639-130-0
  5. Wikipedia in Serbian: Milan Konjovic

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Milan Konjović.
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