Teodor Ilic Cešljar
Encyclopedia
Curug
Čurug is a village in the municipality of Žabalj, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
, 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...
and died on November 20, 1793 at age 47 in Bačko Petrovo Selo
Backo Petrovo Selo
Bačko Petrovo Selo is a village located in the Bečej municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
(now 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...
). He was a late Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
Serbian painter from Vojvodina
Vojvodina
Vojvodina, officially called Autonomous Province of Vojvodina is an autonomous province of Serbia. Its capital and largest city is Novi Sad...
best known for being the creator of the Royal Doors from Ostojićevo
Ostojicevo
Ostojićevo is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the Čoka municipality, North Banat District, Vojvodina province. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and its population numbering 2,844 people with circa 300 Polish Silesian minority of Wisła descent .-References:*Slobodan Ćurčić, Broj...
. It is assumed that he learned to paint from famous masters of Timişoara
Timisoara
Timișoara is the capital city of Timiș County, in western Romania. One of the largest Romanian cities, with an estimated population of 311,586 inhabitants , and considered the informal capital city of the historical region of Banat, Timișoara is the main social, economic and cultural center in the...
and Novi Sad
Novi Sad
Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....
, where he lived in 1769.
His first known work was a painting of four evangelists on church belfry in Buda
Buda
For detailed information see: History of Buda CastleBuda is the western part of the Hungarian capital Budapest on the west bank of the Danube. The name Buda takes its name from the name of Bleda the Hun ruler, whose name is also Buda in Hungarian.Buda comprises about one-third of Budapest's...
in 1776 on which he worked together with Mihael Skokolović. According so some older biographers, Češljar enrolled in Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna
The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna is an institution of higher education in Vienna, Austria.- History :The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy by the court-painter Peter Strudl, who became the Praefectus Academiae Nostrae. In 1701 he was ennobled as Baron of the Empire...
in 1786.
He worked on his first iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
in 1789 in church of Mokrin
Mokrin
Mokrin is the largest village in the Kikinda municipality, in the North Banat District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina. The village has a Serb ethnic majority and a population of 5,918 .-Name:...
; after that he worked in Velika Kikinda
Kikinda
Kikinda is a town and a municipality located in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the North Banat District. The town has 42,000 inhabitants, while the municipality has approximately 67,000 inhabitants.The modern city was founded in 18th century...
and Stara Kanjiža in 1791, and in Bačko Petrovo Selo
Backo Petrovo Selo
Bačko Petrovo Selo is a village located in the Bečej municipality, in the South Bačka District of Serbia. It is situated in the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina...
from 1792 to 1793, when he died. Alongside he has drawn several icons for lower church in Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci
Sremski Karlovci is a town and municipality in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, situated on the bank of the river Danube, 8 km from Novi Sad...
and iconostasis of Kovilj monastery
Kovilj monastery
The Kovilj Monastery is a 13th century Serb Orthodox monastery in the Bačka region, in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina. It is near the village of Kovilj, in the Novi Sad municipality. The monastery was renovated in 1705-1707...
which was destroyed in 1848.
According to quotes from Teodor Ilić Češljar biographies, he was a great colorist and exceptionally inventive in composure. He didn't always paint in style of baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
. He, as his coeval, leaned to softer and more gentle colours, silky facture glaze
Glaze (painting technique)
Glazes can change the chroma, value, hue and texture of a surface. Drying time will depend on the amount and type of paint medium used in the glaze. The medium, base, or vehicle is the mixture to which the dry pigment is added...
painting just like French masters of rococo
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
.
There is no accurate information about portraits painted by Teodor Ilić Češljar, but it is certain that his works include portraits of Pavle Avakumović (1789), portrait of an unknown priest (National Museum of Serbia
National Museum of Serbia
The National Museum is the largest and oldest museum in Serbia. It is located in Republic Square, Belgrade, Serbia. The museum was established on May 10, 1844. Since it was founded, its collections have to over 400,000 objects including many foreign masterpieces...
), portrait of Jovan Jovanović Šakabenta (1787, Museum of Vršac
Vršac
Vršac is a town and municipality located in Serbia. In 2002 the town's total population was 36,623, while Vršac municipality had 54,369 inhabitants. Vršac is located in the Banat region, in the Vojvodina province of Serbia. It is part of the South Banat District.-Name:The name Vršac is of Serbian...
) and large number of ecclesiastical portraits. Another portrait of Jovan Jovanović Šakabenta is also attributed to Jakov Orfelin.
On these portraits, Češljar proved to be a master of drawing and also a subtle and aesthetic colorist as he did with icons. The only exception is rather conventional and cold portrait of Jovan Jovanović Šakabenta.
His famous painting of Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara
Saint Barbara, , Feast Day December 4, known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian saint and martyr....
Anguish
Anguish
Anguish is a term used in philosophy, often as a translation from the German Angst. It is a paramount feature of existentialist philosophy, in which anguish is often understood as the experience of an utterly free being in a world with zero absolutes...
(1785) was drawn for bishop of Nagyvárad. It shows his great sense of composition. This canvas is reminiscent of Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
decorative painters.
Two wall painting in Kikinda
Kikinda
Kikinda is a town and a municipality located in Serbia, in the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the North Banat District. The town has 42,000 inhabitants, while the municipality has approximately 67,000 inhabitants.The modern city was founded in 18th century...
show even more intentions for Venetian painting. They are The Last Supper and Christ in Eclat, masterpieces of Serbian baroque painting.
A street in Kikinda is named after him.