113. Woman in Folk Costume [1937]

The creativity of Milivoj Uzelac (1897 – 1977) is expressively diverse in terms of themes. Although he is mainly recognized for his nudes and paintings, drawings, and graphics of erotic nature, the oeuvre of this exceptional painter also includes many portraits, landscapes, allegories, and folklore motifs. In 1937, Uzelac worked in the Yugoslavian pavilion at the International Exhibition in Paris and exhibited at exhibitions in Belgrade, Paris, and Rome. He completed the "Water Carrier" relief, cast in bronze, and during the same period, he also created this depiction of a woman in traditional costume. The folklore motif provided a perfect backdrop for Uzelac's vibrant color palette, which brings dynamics into an otherwise statically set composition. Uzelac builds the figure of a woman in natural size - orientating her en face and exposing her directly to the viewer's gaze - and wraps and dissolves this compositionally closed and, let's say, almost monotonous view with a strong complementary contrast of red and green. Nearly like German and Northern European expressionists, Uzelac runs a strong palette based on these colors through all aspects of his work - from the interior and depiction of the chair on which the young woman sits, through ornaments embroidered on her national costume, to the modeling of the face and hands of the portrayed woman. By creating such a chromatically linked unit, Uzelac also abstracts the female figure, not assigning her his characteristic "uzelac-esque" erotic connotations this time, but transforming it into a distinctive decorative element, identical in nature to the ornaments running through the portrayed dress or the decorative plane of the wall of the interior. The motif of a woman in traditional costume seemingly remained in Uzelac's painterly memory, which he revisited in 1939, as can be seen from the study "Girl in National Costume" (1939). Compositionally more dynamically set, but stripped of any color, the portrayed girl in this piece maintains the highly ornamental character of Uzelac's oil. MM

References

JOSIP VRANČIĆ, ''Milivoj Uzelac: Retrospective 1916. - 1970.'', catalog of the retrospective exhibition in the Modern Gallery, April 2, 1971 - April 25, 1971, Publishing Institute of the Yugoslav Academy, Zagreb, 1971.

Dimensions

width 112 cm, height 160 cm

Description

oil on canvas, signed in the middle right, in brown, "Uzelac"

Research information

The work is reproduced and catalogued in: JOSIP VRANČIĆ, ''Milivoj Uzelac: Retrospective 1916. - 1970.'', catalog of the retrospective exhibition at the Modern Gallery, April 2, 1971 - April 25, 1971., Publishing Institute of the Yugoslav Academy, Zagreb, 1971., pp. 124 and 137., cat. no. 141, under the title ''Woman in traditional costume''.

Dating

1937

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

For clarifications regarding the bidding procedure, hammer price costs, guarantee, payment, and collection terms for the winning lot, we recommend carefully reading/re-reading the Bidding Regulations.

For additional information regarding the lot and the auction, please contact the Art Consultants Department.