The Art Colony Sićevo (LKS) is the oldest Serbian and Yugoslav art colony, the oldest institution of its kind in the Balkans, and a kind of history of Serbia in the 20th century. Founded on July 30, 1905, in the village of Sićevo, in the picturesque Sićevačka Gorge, 16 kilometers east of Niš, at the initiative of the famous Serbian painter Nadežda Petrović, the LKS is a heritage of valuable works of art by famous artists of various stylistic orientations. Thanks to Nadežda’s initiative, which was wholeheartedly supported by her colleagues from Slovenia and Croatia, the colony began its work, which, with a break of 59 years, continues to this day.
Since 1991, the LKS has acquired an international character, and has become known to the world of painting outside the Balkans, which was important in bringing together an impressive number of authors who were impressed by the ambiance of the village of Sićeva itself and the landscapes of the Sićeva Gorge in which they found primary inspiration for their artistic creations, using selected paths of their own artistic poetics in the pictorial realization of their experience of the landscape.
Over the more than one hundred years of its existence, more than four hundred painters from all parts of the former Yugoslavia and abroad have passed through the Sićeva Colony. The colony is open to artists of different generations and aesthetic orientations. Thanks to it, an impressive art fund was formed, which today consists of about 796 works (since 1970) of significant artistic value.
The First Convocation of the Colony in Sićevo in 1905
Founder of the LKS, painter Nadežda Petrović (1909)
More than a century ago (in 1905), painter Nadežda Petrović, during her stay abroad, despite numerous difficulties, managed to realize her idea of a Yugoslav Art Colony in Serbia and brought her colleagues from her Munich school days (Jakopović, Grohar, Vesel, Jama) to the then unknown village of Sićevo and the Sićevačka Gorge near Niš, to paint in pen, study Serbian folk customs, and exchange opinions and experiences.
According to K. Ambrozić conceived the idea of founding the Colony during the First Yugoslav Exhibition in Belgrade, in September 1904 (in the family home of Nadežda Petrović, where young artists met), shortly before the founding of the Lada society in 1904. The exhibition was an opportunity for Nadežda to reunite with her friends and colleagues, Slovenian (Ivan Grohar, Ferd Vesel, Rihard Jakopić, Matija Jam), Croatian (Ivan Meštrović and Emanuel Vidović) and the Bulgarian painter Nikola Mihailov, with whom she had been friends since her studies in Munich, while she was staying in the studio of Anton Ažbe.
However, the latest research by Lj. Miljković point out that the idea of establishing the Sićevačka Colony emerged three months later (December 29, 1904) in Sofia when Serbian, Bulgarian, Slovenian and Croatian painters met once again, on the occasion of organizing the Second Yugoslav Exhibition.[4]
Having offered these and other painters various forms of cooperation that would satisfy all Yugoslav peoples, Nadežda Petrović tried with all her might to highlight the values of the national art of the Slavic peoples, later united in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
“
The idea, once initiated, did not stop developing. Based on the preserved letters kept in the archives of the National Museum in Belgrade, we see that friends and colleagues continued to preserve and elaborate the idea of the colony’s future work in informal contacts. Nadežda herself, otherwise the ideological creator of the gathering of painters of South Slavic origin, regardless of the countries in which they lived and created, took care of this wholeheartedly. Thanks to her personal efforts in the Ministry of Culture, Nadežda secured certain funds for the first painting contact of artists with the Župa surroundings and the karst of the Sićevo and Jelašnica gorges.
”
The colony began its work on July 30, 1905. Nadežda Petrović was the first to arrive in Sićevo as the host, and Ferdo Vesel with her. They were later joined by Richard Jakopić, Ivan Grohar, Paško Vučetić, Ivan Meštrović, and Emanuel Vidović. The painter Branko Popović, an art critic and professor of art history at the Faculty of Technology in Belgrade, also stayed in the colony for a few short periods.[3]
Students of the first LKS from 1905: Nadežda Petrović, Rihard Jakopić (sitting in the first row), Ivan Meštrović, Ferdo Vesel, Paško Vučetić, Ivan Grohar and Emanuel Vidović (from left to right, standing in the second row, Branko Popović, art critic (back turned)
Nadežda Petrović, when founding the LKS, wrote what the main goals of the colony should be:
“By getting to know the Yugoslav provinces, the tribes in their life and work, their character, it will spread its educational influence on the people, collecting everything that is beautiful, interesting and original in the people, and with this, it will introduce the West to us and what is in us.”
The artists were received with great curiosity by the villagers of Sićevo, who accommodated them in the houses of their hosts in the village itself, except for Nadežda, who stayed with her childhood friend Ljubica Nikolajević – Lovrić in her apartment in the old Sićevo school, today the headquarters of the Colony.
The testimony of a teacher from Sićevo who was a participant in the Colony has also been preserved.
They were described as a group of cheerful young people, warmly welcomed in the village.
“
They attended celebrations, weddings, funerals, visited the gorge and the caves in it, but most of all they painted. The famous artist thus wished that…our peasant people would see that art is universal, that it is a necessary need not only for the townspeople, for the people of Belgrade.
An exhibition of the works of the First Yugoslav Colony was held on January 27, 1907, at the National Museum in Belgrade. In addition to the members of the Colony, Croatian artists Ivan Meštrović, Emanuel Vidović, Mirko Rački, Tomislav Krizman, Antun Katuranić and Bulgarian authors Aleksandar Božinov and Nikola Mihailov also exhibited.
The Colony lasted only two years as a movement (1905-1907).
Six decades of interruption in the work of the Colony (1905–1964)
The interruption in the work of the colony was influenced by a series of historical events (the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Great and Second World Wars, the periods of reconstruction of war-torn Yugoslavia). This created a pause of almost 60 years until the artists reunited in Sićevo with the same goal and the same idea.
The work of the LKS from 1964 to 1969 within the National Museum in Niš
During 1962, academic painter Dragan Kostić and journalist Srećko Taritaš, in a chance meeting19, proposed the continuation of the LKS as a possible physiognomy and method of future work of artists in the community of South Slavic peoples – the SFRY.[1]
The first meeting in connection with the initiative to launch the renewal of the work of the LKS was held in the studio of the Niš painter Radomir Antic. The Presidency of the Society of Fine Artists of the Niš Region, which launched the initiative for the renewal of the Colony, consisted of: President Brana Pavlović and members: Dragan Kostić, Radomir Antic and Dušan Nikolić.[7] They signed the act: Proposal with basic goals and tasks, for the formation of the Colony in Sićevo (November 15, 1962).[8]
Finally, after fifty-nine years, the first “renewed” Art Colony in Sićevo began operating again, lasting from August 15 to 31, 1964, organized by the Cultural and Educational Association and the National Museum in Niš. Since that year, the work of the Colony has been carried out continuously, to this day.[9]
In the period from 1964 to 1969, the National Museum in Niš was primarily responsible for the work of the LKS, as the direct organizer of the Colony and the traditional autumn exhibitions, donated and purchased works of the Colony participants. During the same period, sixty artists from all over Yugoslavia, including four from abroad, resided in the Sićevačka Colony.
1964
The participants of the first renewed LKS, 12 of them, in 1964 were accommodated in a hotel in Sićevo
The first participants of the LKS were twelve artists from Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia, from:
Belgrade
Zoran Pavlović (1932 – 2006), Milun Mitrović (1922 – 2010), Dragan Lubarda and Vladislav Todorović-Šilja (1933 – 1988)
Zagreb
Ante Kuduz, Zorislav Drempetić and Tomislav Hruškovec
Niš
Radomir Antic and Miroljub Đorđević (also the hosts of the colony)
Sarajevo
Nada Pivac
Titograd (Podgorica)
Vojo Tatar
The painters were accommodated in a hotel in Sićevo in the picturesque Sićevačka Gorge. In addition to painting, during their stay at the LKS, the artists also visited the surroundings and cultural and historical monuments of the city of Niš, and spent a day in the village of Sićevo talking to the locals, where the First Yugoslav Art Colony was actually founded. The end of the work of the first, renewed colony was marked by a joint exhibition held in the large exhibition Pavilion in Tvrđava (October 13, 1964).
Among the first participants in the renewed LKS, the most represented were the Informelist painters, but also those who, from Informel to geometrization to associative and expressive expression, expressed their artistic creativity, which in a way reflected the Yugoslav art scene of those years.
“
The paintings of the younger generation of artists (Zoran Pavlović, Vladislav Todorović – Šilja, Tomislav Hruškovec and Zorislav Drempetić), (created in the Colony) were characterized by a strong and particularly accentuated texture, a rich color palette and gesturality. Some of them also incorporated foreign materials into their paintings, such as Tomislav Hruškovec and Vladislav Todorović.
”
The picturesque landscapes of the Sićeva Gorge (left) and the village of Sićeva (right) were a direct motivation and inspiration for the participants of the LKS and GRS. The beauty of these landscapes was discovered by the painter Nadežda Petrović at the beginning of the 20th century, who often came to this area with her friends to paint, and in 1905 she founded the first Yugoslav painting colony in Serbia of all time.
1965.
The Second LKS was held from July 15 to August 5, 1965. That year, the LKS Council was established, which made two important decisions: first, that only artists with a high reputation and reputation in the art world would be invited, and second, that the LKS would be held in the village of Sićevo itself, in the houses of village householders,[12] and that critics would also stay there together with the painters.
The organization of the Second LKS was entrusted to the Center for Culture of the Workers’ University in Niš.
That year, thirteen artists participated, from:
Belgrade
Branislav Protić, Ksenija Divjak, Branko Filipović, Mario Mascarelli, Dragan Lubarda,
Vladislav Todorović – Šilja, Desanka Stanić and Tanja Tarnovska
Niš
Dragan Kostić, Miroljub Đorđević and Miroljub Aleksić
Sarajevo
Ibrahim Ljubović
ZagrebNikola Rajzer
1966
The third LKS was held from 11 to 31 July 1966. Its participants were,[15] from:
Belgrade
Dragan Lubarda, Mario Mascarelli, Gradimir Petrović, Milan Popović,
Leonid Šejka and Svetozar Samurović
Niš
Radomir Antic and Todor Stevanović
Belotica
Milić Stanković
The painters were also accommodated in the Sićevo Hotel this year, and their working space was mainly the ground floor of the hotel, the plateau in front of it and a small hall.[15]
1967
The fourth Sićevo Colony was held from 16 to 31 July 1967. Its convocation included fourteen painters,[16] from:
Belgrade
Zdravko Vajagić, Gradimir Petrović, Čedomir Krstić, Slavoljub Čvorović and
Branko Miljuš (the first graphic artist of the Colony)
Niš
Nina Antoković, Zorica Kostić and Ljubodrag Marinković – Penkin
Sofia
Todor Hadžinikolov and Sergej Ivanović Petrov
Zagreb
Vasilije Jordan
Sarajevo
Franjo Likar
East Berlin
Kurt Rabel
Titograd (Podgorica)
Cvetko Lainović
The artists were accommodated in weekend houses in a camp near the Sićevo Monastery.[16]
This convocation brought together an eminent group of painters, because in addition to representatives of the republics (except Macedonia and Slovenia), foreign artists also participated. This composition increased the reputation and renown of the Sićevo art colony in Yugoslav cultural life, on the other hand, a significant step was taken in establishing direct contact between our artists and artists from Germany and Bulgaria.[16]
1968
The Fifth LKS was held from 16 to 31 July 1968,[17] and its participants were from:
Belgrade
Krsta Andrejević, Vlastimir Diskić, Ljubodrag Janković – Jale, Gradimir Petrović, Vojislav Todorić,
Vladimir Todorović and Slavoljub Čvorović
Niš
Dragan Kostić, Miloš Pavićević and Sima Čemerikić
Novi Sad
Milivoj Nikolajević
All eleven artists were accommodated in the trade union resort in Sićevo.
1969.
Although there were concerns about whether the work in the Colony would continue in 1969, due to insufficient financial resources to cover the accommodation of the participants, the gathering of visual artists in the Sićevo colony in 1969 was held from 16 to 31 July.59 A total of fourteen artists were accommodated in weekend houses – settlements near the monastery of St. Bogorodice.
The participants of the sixth LKS were from Yugoslavia and abroad, namely:
Belgrade
Mira Jurisic, Bosko Karanovic, Vukica Obradovic, Dragovic,
Tomislav Petrovic and Milena Sotra
Niš
Petar Ognjanovic, Miroljub Djordjevic, Nikolaj Morguljenko
Draca, Albania
Ibrahim Kodra
Titograd (Podgorica)
Đeljos Djokaj
Zagreb
Gabriel Humek
Skopje
Tanas Lulovski – Tane
Novi Sad
Milivoj Nikolajevic
“Of all the colonies so far, we can consider this one the most diverse and challenging. On one side were those artists who were brought together and brought closer by the landscape of the Gorge (Gabriel Humek, Miroljub Djordjevic, Milena Sotra, Nikolaj Morguljenko, Tanas Lulovski-Tane, Helena Šipek and Boško Karanovic), while on the other side were those who were not attracted by the landscape and themes related to nature (Đeljoš Đokaj, Ibrahim Kodra, Vukica Obradović Dragović, Milivoj Nikolajević, Petar Ognjanović, Tomislav Petrović, Mira Jurišić).
”
The participants of the 1967, 1968 and 1969 LKS were located below the steep cliffs of the Kunovićka surface (a special morphotectonic and landscape unit of the Niš Valley into which the Sićevačka gorge of the Nišava River is cut), in a picturesque area called Kusača, below its highest peak “Golemi kamen” (771 m), in a weekend village and trade union resort, and in the immediate vicinity of the monastery complex of the Holy Virgin Sićevo (bordered in yellow) surrounded by a dense, predominantly deciduous forest.
The rich art collection of the Niš Museum (Contemporary Art Collection) contains eighty-eight works of art created in the Sićevo Art Colony, from 1964, when the work of the former colony was renewed, until 1970, when the newly formed Gallery of Contemporary Art in Niš took over the responsibility for organizing the Colony and exhibiting works.
Work of the LKS since 1970 within the GSLU Niš
The further work of the LKS since 1970 was significantly influenced by the establishment of the Gallery of Contemporary Art Niš, which that year,[19] took over all work related to the implementation of the Sićevo Art Colony from the National Museum in Niš, which never accompanied the work of artists in the Colony with conditions and limitations in terms of the theme and motif of the work.
The building of the old elementary school in Sićevo, today the Art and Literary Colony and the Graphic Workshop, where painters, graphic artists and writers from all over the world gather every year.
GSLU Niš’s obligations towards the LKS
GSLU Niš is obliged to ensure the smooth operation of the LKS every year:
Select artists and arrange, in the first half of September, a stay of a maximum of 12 participants, since that is the accommodation capacity of the Colony building in Sićevo.
Maintain the tradition that the Art Colony has an international character.
Propose the Council of the Sićevo Art Colony event, appointed by the City Assembly, and appoint the Art Colony selector who will stay in Sićevo with the artists and directly monitor their work.
Provide painting materials, food and reimbursement of travel expenses for participants.
From the Colony participants to the fund of the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts and Niš-Institutions of Culture take over one painting and one drawing from the national one.
At the end of the year, in November, in the Pavilion in Tvrđava, it realizes the exhibition of the Art Colony held that year and covers the costs of furnishing the works, producing and printing the accompanying catalogue, as well as travel expenses for the artists – participants of the Art Colony who come on the day of the opening of the exhibition.