Sava Sekulić

• Name — Sava Sekulić Сава Секулић • Birth Name — Sava Sekulić • Born — 17 February 1902 • Birthplace — Bilišane, Kingdom of Dalmatia, Austria-Hungary • Died — 26 January 1989 • Place of death — Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia • Field — Painter • Movement — Outsider art, Naïve art

He was born in the village of Bilišane in Dalmatinska Zagora near Obrovac, as a Serb in the Kingdom of Dalmatia, in 1902. His father died when he was 10 years old, after which his mother remarried, and Sekulić was raised by his uncle and his aunt. He did not attended formal schooling; He learnt to read and write from his father. Sekulić used to quote his father's last words: "Learn by yourself, draw and write with a stone in your hand". During World War I, he was injured at the age of 15, and lost one eye. He began writing poetry at the age of 22 and started painting in 1932, although he did not devoted himself exclusively to painting. In 1943, during World War II he worked as a builder. After his retirement in 1962, Sekulić increasingly focused on painting as well as his poetry, using visual art to further develop his poetic ideas. As a self-taught artist, his work reflects his personal and associative approach. He died in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1989.

Sekulić painting style is described as universal, timeless and limitless. His work tends towards generalization, moving from the individual towards the universal. His paintings are associated with L'art brut style, both within Serbia and worldwide. Allegories and metaphors appear in most of his works. With his visions, he reduced a unique pictorial definition, and minimized the subject matter to a metaphor. Most of his works are compositions of human figures, portraits and scenes with historical and beings. While painting historical people, he portrayed the victims as heroes, and members of his family as mythological creatures. However, his most complex figure is a woman. Many of his works are philosophical stories and moralizing lessons. Figures are simplified, flat and highly stylised. In the background of every painting is an original story derived from numerous popular legends and beliefs such as: pagan, Christian, mythological, historical or contemporary. The myths, with the pronounced respect for animals, primordial parents and beliefs on summing up people and animals, are presented in his paintings by duplication and compaction of human and animal figures (such as fish, bird, horse, cow, snake, octopus, deer, bull or he-goat), multiplication of heads and limbs. The artist prefigured the symbiosis of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures, where all the alchemy of his pictorial expression is clearly visible. Paradoxically, Sekulić's style counteracts the narrative aspect of the painting and concentrates exclusively on the pictorial value, with the strength on an unconscious neo-primitive. His style has been described as characterised by a "restricted palette". He often painted surfaces with different applications of transparent colours, one over the other, without waiting for the earlier layer to dry, resulting in the blending and assimilation of colours. In his paintings, a single dominant colour often prevailed, which sometimes created a monochromatic effect. He occasionally only partly painted the background, thus leaving areas of the surfaces unpainted. By doing so, Sekulić eliminated any illusion of spatial depth. Sekulić's paintings are characterized by several inventive features, including a blending of the real and the surreal, often with elements resembling automatism. His work places strong emphasis on perception, which may shape how viewers engage with it. For some observers, the subtle structure of purely pictorial phenomena may not be immediately apparent; it can initially be perceived as visual intrigue and later invite deeper intellectual interpretation. Sava Sekulić is regarded as a notable Serbian outsider and naïve painter, and his work has received recognition beyond his national context.

• Illustration — Deer-City, 1948, MNMA, Jagodina • Illustration — When everyone takes their own, 1965, MNMA, Jagodina • Illustration — Jabučilo and Momčilo, 1974, MNMA, Jagodina • Illustration — Nature Walks over the Sky, 1974, MNMA, Jagodina • Illustration — The Germ of Life, 1974, MNMA, Jagodina • Illustration — Ancient Slav, 1975, MNMA, Jagodina