106. Passersby [1974. ]

Vlado Jakelić (born 1943) is one of the representatives of photorealism in Croatian painting, dating back to when photorealism was a new global art movement. As a member of the Biafra group, he was close to social themes and everyday scenes. In these, he creates an urban melancholy feel, and thanks to the attention he shows to details, we gain insight into a piece of past through his images. These are all characteristics that we can see in his oil painting from 1974 named "Passersby". A slice of urban (Zagreb) everyday life is depicted as a photographic frame in which the characters are caught accidentally. The tavern window with a male and female character sitting behind it represents an authentic city observatory of the street and its life, and somehow suggests the key of this painting: in it, we too watch the people passing the frame, as in front of the café window. The main protagonists of this street scene are the flower vendor, a tormented old man with a basket and rifle, who is a sign of times passing, and two younger, female figures, shown in action, while they go about their daily work, with whom he shares this brief time depicted on the street. A witty reference to the art world, a discarded catalogue of an exhibition organized by the former institution "Zagreb City Gallery" is another trace of the time when the painting was made (1970s) and a reflection of reality which can be most intensely felt in details, leftovers, ephemera. This catalog on the street can also be interpreted as a symbol of transience. This image depicts a time that passes uninterestedly, like people in front of the café window, of different motivations, but immersed in the same endurance. FG

Dimensions

width 136 cm, height 96 cm

Description

oil on canvas, Signed and dated lower right, in red, ''V. JAKELIĆ (19)74.''

Dating

1974.

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