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He was born in Šid, Serbia, in 1895. He began doing painting in
1957. In the beginning he did drawings and gouaches, then oil on
wood, canvas, fibreboard, cardboard, paper and rarely on glass. He
had his first exhibition in 1963. He donated his collection of
paintings as the legacy to his native town. Today, it is a
gallery-museum collection which bears his name Ilijanum, and at the
same time is the largest collection of his works.
He was one of the most significant representatives of the so-called
art brut in Serbia. He had exhibitions in the country and abroad, at
famous international events where he received awards and
recognitions for his realisations. At the Third Triennial in
Bratislava, in 1972, Ilija posthumously received Special Recognition
of the international Jury for his achievements in the domain of
naïve and marginal art. He was a world classic. In the Iliad Cycle,
which has nothing in common with the famous Homer’s epic but is
related to the painter’s name, the artistic allusions to the real
world and his fights against human foolishness, duplicity and
hypocrisy are often. |
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Ilija’s oeuvre can be classified into a few thematic units. Most
numerous are the presentations of the Biblical, especially Old
Testament scenes.
Then the motifs inspired by epics, legends and myths followed. In
the Iliad Cycle, which has nothing in common with the famous Homer’s
epic but is related to the painter’s name, the artistic allusions to
the real world and his fights against human foolishness, duplicity
and hypocrisy are often. Then, he portrays the cycle with figures of
real and imaginary animals. Finally, some paintings include flying
astrological beings. Ilija’s works are not descriptive, but are
allegorical with multi-layered and symbolical context. He did not
make difference between the presentation of an apocalyptic angel or
modern astronaut, kings of Apocalypse and kings of Iliad, between a
common and an apocalyptic or paradise bird etc. Ilija created the
anti-illusionistic, the abstract.
He did not use perspective; he eliminated reminiscences; he
generalized and prefigured by using symbols.
References:
M. Bošković; M. Maširević, Samouki likovni umetnici u Srbiji,
Torino, 1977
Oto Bihalji-Merin; Nebojša Bato Tomašević, Enciklopedija naivne
umetnosti sveta, Beograd, 1984
N. Krstić, Naivna umetnost Srbije, SANU, Jagodina, 2003
N. Krstić, Naivna i marginalna umetnost Srbije, MNMU, Jagodina, 2007
Lj. Kojić, Dragutin Aleksić, monografija, MNMU, Jagodina, 2007 |
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MUSEUM OF NAÏVE AND MARGINAL ART -MNMA