Ivan Generalić (December 21, 1914 – November 27, 1992) was a

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n painter in the naïve tradition.

Biography

Generalić was born in

Hlebine Hlebine is a municipality in Koprivnica-Križevci County in Croatia. It consists of two villages, Hlebine and Gabajeva Greda. History Hlebine is first mentioned 1671 as a village in the Drnje parish. It became an independent parish in the 18th ...

near

Koprivnica Koprivnica () is a city in Northern Croatia, located 70 kilometers northeast of Zagreb. It is the capital and the largest city of Koprivnica-Križevci County. In 2011, the city's administrative area of 90.94 km2 had a total populati ...

. In elementary school, painting lessons were his greatest joy and as a child he used to earn money. He mostly drew with pencil on paper bags and some of these sketches were seen by

Krsto Hegedušić Krsto Hegedušić (26 November 1901 – 7 April 1975) was a Croatian painter, illustrator and theater designer. His most famous paintings depict the harsh life of the Croatian peasantry in the manner of naive art. He was one of the founders of ...

, at the time (1930) just a student of the art academy, later a professor. Hegedušić was impressed with Generalić's work and organized Generalić's first public art exhibition, held in 1931 in the

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Art pavilion. Positive critiques and contacts at the time led to a new era of not only Croatian, but also world art as well. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in 1945 he became a member of ULUH (society of Croatian artists). In 1953 he exhibited in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he lived and painted for a few months. In 1959 he painted ''The Deer Wedding'' - his most valuable work, according to followers of the Croatian naïve art world. His home and peasant life of that time was his inspiration. His subjects include weddings, farm work, seasonal celebrations and funeral processions, and his rural scenes often included political commentaries on the social injustices of his time. Due to his technique of using oil paints on the reverse of a glass pane rather than conventional canvas, his pictures have a unique reflective quality. Generalić has a large number of followers, beside his colleagues who form the first generation - Franjo Mraz and Mirko Virius. His second generation followers are Franjo Filipović, Dragan Gaži, Josip Generalić,

Ivan Večenaj Ivan Večenaj (18 May 1920 – 13 February 2013; Koprivnica, Croatia) was a Croatian painter. His works can be found at the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art in Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns i ...

. His work is part of the

Zander Collection The zander (''Sander lucioperca''), sander or pikeperch, is a species of ray-finned fish from the family Percidae, which also includes perch, ruffe and darter. It is found in freshwater and brackish habitats in western Eurasia. It is a popular g ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

among others.

Bibliography

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References

External links

www.generalic.com
* http://thearthistoryjournal.blogspot.com/2011/04/ivan-generalic.html
Ivan Generalić – Zander Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Generalic, Ivan 20th-century Croatian painters Croatian male painters 1914 births 1992 deaths People from Hlebine People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Modern painters Croatian naïve painters Yugoslav painters 20th-century Croatian male artists