"The Last Decade", the exhibition of the works of Sava Sumanovic in the Gallery of the Central Military Club in Belgrade, has marked the 70th anniversary of the death of the great artist. The accompanying program is the exhibition entitled "Sava Sumanovic - Personal, Familial, National" that includes a selection of photographs and documentary materials about the artist and his family. The authors of the exhibition are Ljubica Jukic and Vesna Burojevic, curators of the Gallery "Sava Sumanovic".
During his first visit to Paris in 1920, Sumanovic adopted modern trends in painting and became the most significant representative of constructivism in Serbia, emphasizes Jukic. During his second stay in London, from 1925 to 1928, he was praised by the most notable critics of the time, To be praised in the Paris influential circles of the time was not a mere signal of exceptional talent,“ wrote art and literature critic Milan Kasanin.
Sava Sumanovic spent the last 12 years of his life in Sid, said Jukic adding that he painted more than three hundred paintings. His last decade is thematically dominated by landscapes and nudes, emphasized Jukic. According to her, while other artists travelled to exotic regions in search for an inspiration, Sava found everything he ever wanted in Sid. His 10-year work is a some sort of an annal of the Srem region, Jukic stated. She adds that the first landscapes date from 1932 and 1933. It is clearly visible that the color is dominant, said Jukic. He found his inspiration in seasons, most notably spring and fall. Although it was just the beginning, some of the then paintings such as the Sid Alleys and Spring in the Sid Gardens are among his best works.
Visitors will be able to see paintings that belong to Sumanovic’s cycle „Women of Sid“ – nudes in nature. Jukic points to the important fact that for the first five years Sumanovic did not have any nude art models. Later on, he managed find one girl willing to pose. Sumanovic started the cycle with one nude, gradually increased the size of paintings and at the same time increased the number of nudes, which indicates that he had a completely defined vision of the cycle, our collocutor emphasizes. The Women of Sid cycle was presented at the exhibition in Belgrade in 1939.
As of April 1941, when Sid fell under the fascist rule of the Independent State of Croatia, Sumanovic stopped signing his canvases, but never ceased to paint. Some of his finest works were created during the War, underlined Jukic. At 6 am on August 28, 1942, Sumanovic and another 150 Serbs living in Sid were arrested by the Ustashi and taken to Sremska Mitrovica. Every single one of them was tortured to be shot and buried in a mass grave. Sumanovic painted until the very end. When they took him away, his painting Women Pickers remained on the easel.