Sreten Stojanovic
Encyclopedia
Sreten Stojanović was one of the most prominent Bosnian and Serbian sculptors of the 20th century.
He was born in 1898 in Prijedor
in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the house of Orthodox priests who "preached the faith for strength of people and who imagined Russia to be something that is ours or more beautiful, bigger, more Orthodox, closer to God and more powerful than anything that was German or Turkish”, as he wrote in his autobiography. He inherited such a patriarchal family's firmness and stability, from people who grew up in that very soil and he spent his whole life being so ingrained, not giving up on the deepest and unchanged moral principles. He belonged to the Young Bosnia
Movement where he was, as a juvenile pupil of the Tuzla
's high school, sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was also shortly engaged adventurously in national interests at the end of the First World War. In Vienna
he studied sculpture
and at the beginning of the 1920s he enjoyed a turbulent bohemian life in Paris
, where he also devoted himself to study. With Dragiša Vasić and Vladislav Ribnikar he was traveling through the Soviet Union
in 1927. After the Second World War he was a dynamic social and cultural activist.
Stojanović became a sculptor after going to study, first in Vienna
at the beginning of 1918, and later in Paris
. He received his scholarships from Dr. Djurica Djordjević and his wife Krista, who he became acquainted and afterward became friends with. They were big defenders of the modern art in between-the-wars Yugoslavia
and their house became one of the most known meeting places of artists, writers, young left-wing politicians and intellectuals. He indulged in Viennese revolutionary movements before the black-yellow monarchy's downfall. Being in the midst of social happenings, he returned to Bosnia immediately after the end of the war where he was engaged in creation of first Yugoslavia
, with all his achieved political and penal reputation, belligerence and revolutionary mood. He commanded the committee and irregular troops which established order in a condition of a total anarchy, just before arrival of the regular Alexander the Great's liberation army which was arriving in its epochal Thessaloniki
inrush.
In 1919, Stojanović went to Paris
to pursue the best studies of art, which not only ensured the necessary education but also close contacts with numerous life's challenges and a creative stimulation coming from one of the biggest European metropolises. One address and information that Serbs gather in the cafés on Boulevard Saint-Michel was enough for him, reported the autobiographer, remembering his first meeting with the art metropolis of those times.
The most vivid depiction of Stojanović and the whole atmosphere dominated in artistic circles and bohemian societies of Paris
at the end of the second and beginning of the third decade of the last century was made by L. Trifunović:
"Such a handsome and gallant man, with a shirt-blouse and black officer's frock coat, wearing a Borsalino
hat with a wide rim, has entered early the circles of the Montparnasse
Bohemians who lived around Rotonda and Cupola cafés, where people were drinking not too much and spending little money, talking, reciting, napping, passing time. One could meet friends here, known and unknown artists, confident Zadkine with a dog, Fougita with his strange hairstyle and his ugly friend, bulky Isidora Duncan, Shanna Orlow, Kisling, crazy Americans and drunken Swedes, Indians, Swiss, Russians... Montparnasse
looked like a modern Babylon
. His life and youth were abundantly satisfied."
Another critic of Stojanović's artistic opus described the change that took place after his studies and return to the homeland:
"After moving to Belgrade, Sreten's biography lost a sense of a happy story. He seriously and professionally starts creating, establishing his first sculpture studio, exhibits his works at soloist and group exhibitions, very actively participates in the art life, writes artistic criticism, publishes two books, appears in public often and discusses professional or social problems at those times, gives popular lectures about art, grounds a family, travels..."
During the Second World War he lived in Belgrade
with his family and when the war was over he found out that his brother, Dr. Mladen Stojanović, died. His brother was a legendary national hero and one of the key persons of Josip Broz Tito
's partisan movement in western Bosnia. After his brother's death, Stojanović engaged himself in many functions. He was the chairman of the National Front in Belgrade
, commoner, the secretary of the Association of Painters of Yugoslavia
, the chairman of the Association of Painters of Serbia
, the principal of the Art Academy, the editor of the magazine "Art", a member of Serbian Academy of Art and Sciences in 1950, etc.
He died in Belgrade
in 1960, leaving behind one of the most valuable sculpture
opuses in the Serbian art of the 20th century. For his birthplace Prijedor
he gave a gift of an important part of his artworks. His creations can also be seen in the gallery Pavlo Beljanski in Novi Sad, the National museum and the Museum of modern art in Belgrade. In memorial buildings in Belgrade
, Vojvodina
, Montenegro
and Republic of Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina there are some of his most important monumental compositions.
Prijedor
Prijedor is a city and municipality in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Bosanska Krajina region....
in Bosnia-Herzegovina, in the house of Orthodox priests who "preached the faith for strength of people and who imagined Russia to be something that is ours or more beautiful, bigger, more Orthodox, closer to God and more powerful than anything that was German or Turkish”, as he wrote in his autobiography. He inherited such a patriarchal family's firmness and stability, from people who grew up in that very soil and he spent his whole life being so ingrained, not giving up on the deepest and unchanged moral principles. He belonged to the Young Bosnia
Young Bosnia
Young Bosnia was a revolutionary movement active before World War I, the members were predominantly school students who were ethnic Serbs, but included Bosniaks...
Movement where he was, as a juvenile pupil of the Tuzla
Tuzla
Tuzla is a city and municipality in Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the time of the 1991 census, it had 83,770 inhabitants, while the municipality 131,318. Taking the influx of refugees into account, the city is currently estimated to have 174,558 inhabitants...
's high school, sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was also shortly engaged adventurously in national interests at the end of the First World War. In Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
he studied sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
and at the beginning of the 1920s he enjoyed a turbulent bohemian life in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he also devoted himself to study. With Dragiša Vasić and Vladislav Ribnikar he was traveling through the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1927. After the Second World War he was a dynamic social and cultural activist.
Stojanović became a sculptor after going to study, first in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
at the beginning of 1918, and later in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He received his scholarships from Dr. Djurica Djordjević and his wife Krista, who he became acquainted and afterward became friends with. They were big defenders of the modern art in between-the-wars Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and their house became one of the most known meeting places of artists, writers, young left-wing politicians and intellectuals. He indulged in Viennese revolutionary movements before the black-yellow monarchy's downfall. Being in the midst of social happenings, he returned to Bosnia immediately after the end of the war where he was engaged in creation of first Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, with all his achieved political and penal reputation, belligerence and revolutionary mood. He commanded the committee and irregular troops which established order in a condition of a total anarchy, just before arrival of the regular Alexander the Great's liberation army which was arriving in its epochal Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...
inrush.
In 1919, Stojanović went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
to pursue the best studies of art, which not only ensured the necessary education but also close contacts with numerous life's challenges and a creative stimulation coming from one of the biggest European metropolises. One address and information that Serbs gather in the cafés on Boulevard Saint-Michel was enough for him, reported the autobiographer, remembering his first meeting with the art metropolis of those times.
The most vivid depiction of Stojanović and the whole atmosphere dominated in artistic circles and bohemian societies of Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the end of the second and beginning of the third decade of the last century was made by L. Trifunović:
"Such a handsome and gallant man, with a shirt-blouse and black officer's frock coat, wearing a Borsalino
Borsalino
Borsalino is the name of a hat company known particularly for its fedoras. Established in 1857, Borsalino produces felt from Belgian rabbit fur at its factory in Alessandria, Italy....
hat with a wide rim, has entered early the circles of the Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
Bohemians who lived around Rotonda and Cupola cafés, where people were drinking not too much and spending little money, talking, reciting, napping, passing time. One could meet friends here, known and unknown artists, confident Zadkine with a dog, Fougita with his strange hairstyle and his ugly friend, bulky Isidora Duncan, Shanna Orlow, Kisling, crazy Americans and drunken Swedes, Indians, Swiss, Russians... Montparnasse
Montparnasse
Montparnasse is an area of Paris, France, on the left bank of the river Seine, centred at the crossroads of the Boulevard du Montparnasse and the Rue de Rennes, between the Rue de Rennes and boulevard Raspail...
looked like a modern Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
. His life and youth were abundantly satisfied."
Another critic of Stojanović's artistic opus described the change that took place after his studies and return to the homeland:
"After moving to Belgrade, Sreten's biography lost a sense of a happy story. He seriously and professionally starts creating, establishing his first sculpture studio, exhibits his works at soloist and group exhibitions, very actively participates in the art life, writes artistic criticism, publishes two books, appears in public often and discusses professional or social problems at those times, gives popular lectures about art, grounds a family, travels..."
During the Second World War he lived in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
with his family and when the war was over he found out that his brother, Dr. Mladen Stojanović, died. His brother was a legendary national hero and one of the key persons of Josip Broz Tito
Josip Broz Tito
Marshal Josip Broz Tito – 4 May 1980) was a Yugoslav revolutionary and statesman. While his presidency has been criticized as authoritarian, Tito was a popular public figure both in Yugoslavia and abroad, viewed as a unifying symbol for the nations of the Yugoslav federation...
's partisan movement in western Bosnia. After his brother's death, Stojanović engaged himself in many functions. He was the chairman of the National Front in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, commoner, the secretary of the Association of Painters of Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, the chairman of the Association of Painters of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, the principal of the Art Academy, the editor of the magazine "Art", a member of Serbian Academy of Art and Sciences in 1950, etc.
He died in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
in 1960, leaving behind one of the most valuable sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
opuses in the Serbian art of the 20th century. For his birthplace Prijedor
Prijedor
Prijedor is a city and municipality in the north-western part of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated in the Bosanska Krajina region....
he gave a gift of an important part of his artworks. His creations can also be seen in the gallery Pavlo Beljanski in Novi Sad, the National museum and the Museum of modern art in Belgrade. In memorial buildings in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
, Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
and Republic of Srpska in Bosnia-Herzegovina there are some of his most important monumental compositions.