Mirko Virius (28 October 1889 – 1943) was a Croatian naïve painter. He was one of the three most prominent members of the first generation of the Hlebine School. Virius was born in the village of Đelekovec near Koprivnica, where he completed four years of primary school. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he fought as an Austro-Hungarian soldier in Galicia. He was captured by Russians and made a forced laborer in

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

Kharkiv Kharkiv, also known as Kharkov, is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city in Ukraine.

and the Ekaterinoslav iron plant. He returned from Russia in the spring of 1918 and remained in

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 ...

until the war ended. Virius then went home to Đelekovec, where he lived in penury and married a war widow with two children. He became a member of the progressive peasant movement, led by the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...

. In 1936, the writer Mihovil Pavlek Miškina introduced him to the painters from Hlebine, Ivan Generalić and Franjo Mraz. They were the first generation of the Croatian naïve art movement, the Hlebine School. Virius was a self-taught painter, who started painting late in life. In just three years (1936–39) he created an impressive body of work. He participated in the First Exhibition of Peasant Painters in Zagreb. Virius started with drawings and later made watercolors and oils. His opus is dominated by expressive and bleak depictions of social themes - peasant labor, the soil, poor villagers - best shown in paintings such as ''The Beggar'', ''The Plowing'', ''The Red Bull'', ''The Overturned Cart'', ''The Flour Exchange Office''. The prominent lines, the purity and elegance of his drawings prompted the critic Josip Depolo to call him "the

Giotto Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto, was an List of Italian painters, Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the International Gothic, Gothic and Italian Ren ...

of Podravina". i. e. the conscience of croatian painting and modernity. In the

Second World War 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 ...

, Virius was arrested because of his Communist political activities and taken to a Nazi concentration camp in Zemun, where he was executed in 1943. His tragic fate was immortalized by his friend Generalić, who painted ''The Death of Virius'', one of his most famous paintings. Works of Virius are part of the collections of the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art in

, the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb and the Zander Collection in

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 ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Virius, Mirko 1889 births 1943 deaths People from Đelekovec People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia Croatian naïve painters People executed by the Independent State of Croatia