Motifs of Struggle and Prayer in Artworks from the MNMA Collection

The art of self-taught artists is most directly inspired by the primal motifs of the human being’s struggle against the adversities that life brings. A key characteristic of their art is that it does not follow trends or imitate the art of others; rather, it responds to life itself and instinctively transforms life’s events into artistic expression.

The sculptor Milan Stanisavljević works with dark wood, preserving its natural texture in its found state, often creating sculptures from wood retrieved from riverbeds. This type of wood inherently carries a message about the passage of time and the trace of existence. Expressive sculptures by Dragutin Aleksić, often shaped with an axe, testify to the power of will that sustained people through life’s hardships. It was this same strength of will that kept these self-taught artists creating, even without the support of the institutional art system. The power of their themes and their inherent talent brought their works into global collections and museums. For example, Bogosav Živković is represented in the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, and Dragiša Stanisavljević exhibited at the prestigious Cartier Foundation in Paris. These are just a few of the many international recognitions that demonstrate how self-taught artists, through incredible willpower, rose from anonymity into the world of recognized and educated artists.

Struggle and prayer are fundamental motifs in the history of wars, the pursuit of emancipation, and constitutionally guaranteed rights (as commemorated by the Sretenje holiday). But they are also among the most powerful and prevalent themes in the art of the self-taught. The famous naïve painter Janko Brašić captivated both critics and the public with his depiction of the Battle of Kosovo. The monumental composition presented by the Museum in this exhibition is the best example of how, in art, talent and persistent work carry more weight than formal education.

Finally, contemporary academically trained artist Goran Stojčetović, who works within and exhibits in the field of raw vision art or art brut, has shown through his works that, alongside academic education, art is also created by following a powerful internal need to respond to the challenges of the times—without obeying the dictates of academia.

Ivana Bašićević Antić, Phd
Director of the MNMA