Loading

Milunović seldom signed his paintings and dated them even less often. The painting In the Studio, signed but not dated, belongs to the period of his final return to Belgrade. However, according to its motif, it is not one of his typical paintings from that period. The ambience of his studio found its way onto his canvases once more, with a sculptor’s tripod, a plaster torso, a paint box, an easel. Unlike the series of still-lifes he painted around 1930, when they represented only a fragment, his favorite nook in the interior, here the space opens up, losing its intimistic overtone. Milunović used the aforementioned accessories as elements of the spatial construction of the painting and their horizontal contours as a contrast to his own sitting figure outlined in a series of curves. Although it is obvious who is depicted by the man sitting in front of the easel, in the center of the painting, it is just as obvious that this is not the artist’s self-portrait. The face in the painting, partially obscured by the broad rim of the dark hat was rendered only superficially like all the other details. The painter’s eyes are in fact turned towards the lightest detail in the entire composition – the white cloth for wiping his hands. The rest of the painting differs from the black and white figure with the cloth in unique colours where shades of sepia are covered by “dirty” applications of a light violet-bluishgreen tonality, applied in seemingly completely disorganized brushstrokes. The painter thus achieved an analysis of the painted surface through tones, halftones, drawing and shadows, changing the optical sensation as well, depending on the elements used and the surface of the painting. Milunović painted this masterpiece using pure visual technique, without narration “like Baudelaire, who could, by placing one word, lend the entire verse and the entire sentence a mysterious fragrance as if by burning incense.”

Details

  • Title: In the Studio
  • Creator: Milo Milunović
  • Creator Lifespan: 1897 - 1967
  • Creator Gender: Male
  • Creator Death Place: Belgrade
  • Creator Birth Place: Cetinje
  • Date Created: 1936
  • Signatures, Inscriptions and Markings: signed in the bottom right corner: M. Milo
  • Provenance: The painting In the Studio was among 185 artworks Pavle Beljanski donated to the nation in 1957.
  • Physical Dimensions: w81.8 x h100.8 cm
  • Exhibition History: 1945 - City Museum and Library, Sombor, 1952 - Belgrade City Museum; 1954 - Art Pavilion "Cvijeta Zuzorić"; Since 1961 - permanent exhibition of The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection; 2010 - the exhibition Pavle Beljanski - friend of artist: Milo Milunović; 2011 - the exhibition The Collection of Pavle Beljanski: Back in Belgrade, Gallery of the Military Club, Belgrade
  • Type: Oil on Canvas
  • Rights: The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection
  • External Link: http://www.pavle-beljanski.museum/en/artwork.php?artwork=90
  • Medium: Oil on Canvas

Additional Items

Get the app

Explore museums and play with Art Transfer, Pocket Galleries, Art Selfie, and more

Flash this QR Code to get the app
Google apps