Gallery of Matica Srpska
MILOŠ BAJIĆ. DREAM OF FREEDOM The 110 th anniversary of the birth of this academic painter and professor, and 70 years since abstract painting first emerged in postwar Yugoslavia, is being commemorated with an exhibition in Novi Sad
The Gallery of Matica Srpska is presenting the exhibition “Mi- loš Bajić: Dream of Freedom”, wi- th which it is commemorating the anniversary of the birth of this re- nowned artist, who had a very unusual life as a result of the nu- merous historical upheavals of the 20 th century. Despite experiencing a number of tragedies, this ar- tist succeeded in drawing strength and motivation for his constant struggle from tough life circum- stances. He faced the loss of his parents and exile during his ear- ly childhood, then experienced the horrors of concentration camps in his youth, yet his work nonethele- ss represented a valuable depar- ture from established frameworks for Yugoslav art. Bajić dreamt of freedom whi- le imprisoned at the Banjica, Mau- thausen and Ebensee concentra- tion camps, where he attempted to use his artistic expression to li- berate himself from traumatic events and scenes. He later conti- nued his struggle against the po- litical determining of art during the postwar period, as a member of the artistic groups ‘Samostalni’ and ‘Decemberska Grupa’. Also te- stifying to his social engagement and political discontent is the fa- ct that his professor, painter Beta Vukanović, often referred to him as “that rebel”. His oeuvre nevertheless isn’t marked exclusively by the dark themes of his time imprisoned in concentration camps, rather Ba- jić is inscribed in Serbian art as the country’s first abstract painter, who turned to abstract expressi- on during the 1950s. His residen-
cy in Paris broadened his horizons yet further, and it was also then that he overcame the trauma of his internment and simultaneo- usly achieved his full and authen- tic expression as a painter. This ex- hibition presents Bajić’s life and artistic development through nu- merous works, with a special emp- hasis on the drawings he created during his imprisonment in Mau- thausen, one of the most brutal camps, and paintings that emer- ged following his liberation. The exhibition addresses and conne- cts the tragic fate of the war years that Bajić spent in the camp wi- th the abstract works that marked the achieving of his artistic libera- tion as a painter.
Miloš Bajić u srpskoj umetnosti ostaje upisan kao prvi apstraktni slikar, koji do apstraktnog izraza dolazi pedesetih godina prošlog veka
Miloš Bajić is inscribed in Serbian art as the country’s first abstract painter, who
turned to abstract expression during the 1950s
Uz istaknute istoričare, umetnike i kustose, izložbi u Novom Sadu prisustvovala je i Leona, praunuka Miloša Bajića Along with prominent historians, artists and curators, Miloš Bajić’s great- granddaughter Leona also attended the exhibition in Novi Sad
Exhibition » Izložba | 43
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