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Wonderful paintings of three generations of Knjazovic’s from Kovačica

In the history of the fine art we usually classify the painters into the art trends and movements on base of their art poetics. But more unusual phenomenon is to keep one original art poetic by generations within one family. With such  probably the most unique phenomenon, we meet in the framework of the world-known naive art in Kovačica. During the last fifty years this small town in Serbia  in which Slovak people are prevailed residents  entered into the world map of the naive fine art.

Endeavour and merit for this are attributed to Ján Knjazovic (1925 – 1985), the outstanding painter, bold and original pioneer of wonderful painting on the border of reality and dream – painting of naive imagination. He was the first painter of Kovačica naive fine art, who in the scope of his own pictorial poetics deviated substantially and deliberately from mimetic concept of fine art by means of new stylization of shapes and using of colours in relation with their internal meanings. His paintings are characterized with landscape thematics. At the same time they impress totally in flat way. In the two-dimensional dark ultramarine blue space Ján Knjazovic linearly created trees, flowers, animals and peoples and he expressed trend to composite multiplication of the same or similar motives.

Ján Knjazovic’s original pictorial expression was favourably accepted by the lovers of naive fine art around the all world and one of his pictures became the post stamp of Yugoslavia.

Ján Knjazovic’s wonderful pictorial poetic is alive also after his death – not only on his pictures – but it revived again in the paintings of his daughter Anna Knjazovic (1950). She in her own creation not only preserved the base postulates of her father pictorial poetic, but at the same time she broadened it. Thematically she remained bonded with the countryside surroundings, but her figures are more vivid and the palette is more abundant.

This unusual phenomenon has its own following chapter – pictorial creation of Anna’s daughter Nataša Mijailović Knjazovic (1977), grand-daughter of Jan Knjazovic. In the framework of her creation she also respected art postulates of creation of her grandfather and mother (flat space of illustration, using of colours on base their expressive, internal meaning and oneiric, fabulous tone), but she transferred her art narration from the countryside surroundings into the universal space and time and she put stronger accent on emotional sphere and intimate message of art expression.

Wonderful paintings of Knjazovic’s three generations, signed by heart in the direct and metaphorical meaning, became significant symptom of Kovačica naive fine art in its multi generation of captivation of world by art, heart and love.

Vladimír Valentík