Young Diplomat

Pavle Beljanski's stay in Vienna was marked by an acquaintance with young painter Marino Tartaglia (1923), who played an important role in solving collector’s dillemas that troubled him. Spiritual bond between these two young men enabled an earnest dialogue on the subject of art and aesthetic values. Remembering those young days, Marino Tartagliaa once said that Beljanski had «an astounding gift and a great insight in art». First encounter with Tartaglia happened in 1923 in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenians Embassy in Vienna, where the painter appeared with an intention to earn some much needed money by painting a portrait of a Serbian envoy. At that time, the great Serbian painter Paja Jovanović was painting a portrait of the Charge d’Affaires, so Tartaglia proposed Beljanski to paint him. That is how the painting A Young Diplomat came to be. The recognition Tartaglia received for this piece in 1929 in Barcelona – a gold medal and a diploma – was extremely important for the young artist at the beginning of his career, as well as for the young collector. Owning a picture of a painter from his homeland which value surpassed the national borders was a starting point for a collection of works of contemporary artists of a young state Beljanski represented in Europe. The painting is within The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection part of the Documentary fund, and not the collection of Pavle Beljanski.