oil on canvas, 56 x 65 cm, signed lower right, in green, "Stančić"

Miljenko Stančić (Varaždin, 1926 – Zagreb, 1977) was a Croatian painter and graphic artist, one of the most significant Croatian representatives of Surrealist and Metaphysical tendencies. In his paintings, he often depicted his older brother Stanko who passed away at just six months old, before Miljenko's own birth. He began drawing as a child, but his early works were destroyed during the Second World War. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and honed his craft under Tomislav Krizman. He created illustrations for newspapers, books, and magazines, and made mural paintings on the ceiling of HNK in Varaždin. He taught at the Zagreb Academy until his untimely death at the age of 51. Stančić's work intertwined dream and reality, autobiographical, and imaginary events. His native Varaždin would often appear in his paintings in a foggy, dreamy atmosphere. His common motifs were a set table, a white tablecloth, a kitchen, an empty bedroom, and among them, the motif of children's bodies was predominant, likely triggered by thoughts of his prematurely deceased brother. Critics have accused him of overusing the same motifs and of creating too much by order and his own inspiration, thereby devaluing his works. He was part of the Group of Five with J. Vaništa, Lj. Ivančić, V. Michieli, and I. Kožarić. An oil on canvas titled Girls in Conversation is signed in the lower right corner. It depicts Stančić's typical chamber scene – a dark atmosphere, doll-like figures sitting around a table with faint outlines of faces. The spatially simple composition suggests that he probably painted from memory. Although there are two figures in the painting, it is filled with silence and loneliness. A single light source illuminates the melancholic image, the gloomy interior, and an almost monochrome palette.

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