The Unicorn

1974
oil/sekurit
1200 x 1700 mm
signature: down in the right corner: IGen / 1974

According to legend, the Unicorn comes to forest glades in search of food, and if a man meets a unicorn, he will fulfill all his wishes. In the woods Generalić adhered minutial processing the leaves of trees, especially visible in the tall trees on the left side of the image. To emphasize the depth of space, trees are varied through several plans being implemented different color tones - trees tones in the foreground are extremely brightly outlined, applied as dots. White color present on the leaves gives the impression of luminescence and contributes to the miraculous and the fairy-taleness of the scene. On the other hand, the trees in the background plane are in darker colors in order to further emphasize the mystique and mistify display in the foreground. In the most remote plans shades are lighter, on the horizon almost merged with the sky in which we recognize the aptness use of linear perspective.

Ivan Generalic was born December 21, 1914 at Hlebine, an unnamed village in the region Podravina in the heart of ancient swamps of Pannonia. As a young man took care of the farm work and in his spare time he drew. In the summer of 1930 Krsto Hegedusic and spent the holidays in Hlebine known academic painter and professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, by chance he met the young peasant Ivan and soon saw his extraordinary talent. In the footsteps of his thesis on the social peasant paintings, using the technique of painting on glass and experiences of the French painters naifs, Krsto Hegedusic gave Ivan Generalic bfirst painting lessons. Just one year after the young farmer became an extraordinary painter, exhibiting at the third exhibition of a group "Earth" (Zemlya) in Zagreb in 1931. In 1936 with his first solo exhibition Ivan confirmed his genius. Thus was born the Croatian Naive Art. In 1953 he attracted world attention with his solo exhibition in Paris, in 1955 in St. Paul and in 1958 the World Exposition in Brussels, where he secured an important place in the world. Today Ivan Generalic is considered one of the greatest painters of the naive and modern art of the 20th century. Following the example of Generalic the farmers from Hlebine, Podravina and Croatia but also Europe and worlwide began to paint. It set up the so-called Hlebine Art School that defines a style that more than one location. Ivan Generalic held exhibitions around the world, winning awards and accolades, he became a legend already while he was still alive. He died in 1992. His work is an essential part of Croatian and world art.
In 1985 an anex to the Gallery of Naive Art in Hlebine was open in which all of his works are permanently exhibited.