tempera and gouache on paper, 32 x 46.5 cm, signed and dated bottom right, in blue, "Musić (19)87"

Notes

on the back, dedicated, "to a friend in memory Dušan Džamonja. 3. VII. 2008."

Zoran Mušić (1909 - 2005) was a Slovenian painter whose work spanned the entire 20th century, and having lived in Venice and Paris, his sphere of influence extended beyond Slovenia and the entire region of former Yugoslavia. His work is most often placed within the context of European lyrical free figuration after the 1950s, evidenced by his predilection for tonal composing of the image and the play of irregular shapes in strikingly bright, earthy colours. This often emphasized lyricism of his work is also reflected in the simplicity and robust outlines with which he shapes elements of the landscape or fauna (horses are a very common motif for him), as well as in the construction of the image by tonal transitions of colours that transform from yellow to ochre in a light spectrum, mostly of muted intensity. The 1987 painting of a fish (likely laid on a plate and viewed at a right angle, a common compositional solution in still life with this motif in the 20th century) belongs to Mušić's later oeuvre. The simplicity of the depicted motif and the expression of the cracked texture of the fish body, which stands out on a dark background with a white base and a light yellow overpainting, with a streak of ochre, are some classic characteristics of Mušić's oeuvre. This painting is a meditation on a standard theme, executed in a style that (due to the way of shaping and mentioned coloration) is very recognizable for this painter. FG

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