49. Viviana [1904.]

Čikoš's series of oil paintings demonstrate his dedication to Viennese Secessionist aesthetics and the high aspirations he attained in that artistic direction at the turn of the last two centuries. This is understandable considering the years he spent in Vienna studying painting at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts (1887/1892). Indeed, his academic education provided him the conditions to master technical skills and perspective-compositional aspects, and the Secessionist movement of local artists, who separated from conservative and official art societies, through their works and ad hoc exhibitions, showed Čikoš that it is possible to cross the boundary of the obvious and objective in the world of art and achieve beautiful works. The painting of Viviane, his model and friend, testifies to this with her precise, but also poetic drawing, finely painted incarnate, the intimate atmosphere of the scene and free, almost glazed application of color. The pale complexion of the girl with casually lowered hair, her almond-shaped eyes, and slightly open lips are a typical example of Čikoš's "unofficial" painting of a close person. The background figures shaded by the light from the right, a small bust of a woman in an oval and a man bent down with a cap below, give the whole scene a note of mystical connection of the central female figure with the couple in the background. Mysticism and esoterica were, writes Feđa Gavrilović, "the painter's great love", adding: "In Čikoš, his rich symbolism and the filling of his paintings with spirits are the best examples of Secessionist esoterica in Croatian painting.". To this should be added that, in addition to symbolism and mysticism, Čikoš's painting is characterized by rich ideality and pronounced subjectivity of motifs, stylistic and even technical options, achieved and embodied in the spirit of Vienna Secession. The motto of its protagonists was not to stay at the observable and penetrate behind the objective reality. Čikoš also adhered to this and painted in this spirit until the end of his creative life. BRP

References

F. Gavrilović reviewing the extensive exhibition of Bela Csikos' works in the Art Pavilion Sesia in 2012. Wreath, Zagreb, January 26, 2012, pp. 16-17.

Dimensions

width 34 cm, height 49 cm

Description

oil on canvas mounted on cardboard, signed with initials, dated and located in the middle left, in white, "B·C·S· / Z·1904"

Research information

The work is reproduced in color in the map of reproductions Bela Čikoš-Sesija, V. Lunaček, published by Jos. Čaklović, Zagreb, 1920, on page b.p. There is another well-known version of the work, from the historic Bauer collection, now in the Museum of the City of Vukovar, inventory no. 510.

Dating

1904.

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