Jovan Zonjić (1907–1961) was one of Montenegro's most important painters in the transition from academic to modern painting.

Biography

Zonjić came from the village of Kralj near

Andrijevica Andrijevica (Cyrillic: Андријевица, ) is a town in Montenegro in the northern region and it is the seat of Andrijevica Municipality. According to the 2023 Census of Montenegro, it had a population of 988. History The town of Andrijev ...

. From Andrijevica, his father Radisav Zonjić moved to

Podgorica Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

, then to

Cetinje Cetinje ( cnr-Cyrl, Цетиње, ) is a List of cities and towns in Montenegro, town in Montenegro. It is the former royal capital ( cnr-Latn-Cyrl, prijestonica, приjестоница, separator=" / ") of Montenegro and is the location of sev ...

, where he ran cafės, and in Cetinje married a Herzegovinian from

Berovo Berovo (, ) is a small town near the Maleševo Mountains, from Skopje, from Strumica and from Kočani, in North Macedonia. It is the seat of Berovo Municipality. Demographics According to the 2002 census, the town had a total of 7,002 inha ...

, Milica Popović. Zonjić graduated from Royal Art School in Belgrade in 1931 and enrolled at the

École des Beaux-Arts ; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centu ...

in Paris where he lived intermittently until 1939. With Zonjić's painting "Fethiye", which he exhibited in 1934 at the VII Autumn Exhibition in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, he received the "Belgraders to Belgrade Artists" Award. That award enabled him to return to Paris and resume his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts which he had previously interrupted due to financial difficulties. It was in Paris that he improved, in the midst of some fiercest competition at the time. At the Exhibition of Yugoslav Artists in Paris in March 1939, the only painting purchased by the ''Musée National d'Art Moderne'' was Zonjić's "Black Woman" (nine of Zonjić's paintings were exhibited). Occupying Paris, the Nazis, as spoils of war, took from that museum what they considered significant. Among the looted paintings was his painting, "Black Woman". The original painting is now lost, but a reproduction of that painting was found by Branka Bogavac, former director of the Cultural Center of Yugoslavia in Paris. It was stored on one of the underground floors of the ''

Musée National d'Art Moderne The Musée National d'Art Moderne (; "National Museum of Modern Art") is the national museum for modern art of France. It is located in the 4th arrondissement of Paris and is housed in the Centre Pompidou. In 2021 it ranked 10th in the list of ...

'' in Paris.

Legacy

One critic wrote that Zonjić was not a favourite among Belgrade painters, because he endangered their position in the painting establishment since they could not challenge his painting abilities they resorted instead to spreading stories and rumours about him. In 2007, an exhibition of Zonjić's paintings from the collection of the Cetinje Museums was organized in

Berane Berane (Cyrillic: Беране) is a town in Montenegro in the northern region. It is former administrative centre of the Ivangrad District. The town is located on the Lim river. From 1949 to 1992, it was named Ivangrad ( cyrl, Ивангра ...

and

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zonjić, Jovan 1907 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Serbian painters 20th-century Serbian male artists People from Andrijevica People from Podgorica People from Cetinje École des Beaux-Arts alumni Serbian modern painters Serbian male painters Serbs of Montenegro