Ljubomir Micić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Мицић, 15 November 1895 – 14 June 1971) was a Serbian poet, writer, critic, editor and actor. He was the founder of the avant-garde movement

Zenitism Zenitism ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zenitizam, Зенитизам) was an avant-garde art movement in Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Yugoslavia that lasted from 1921 until 1926, first appearing in Zagreb from 1921 to 1924 and from 1924 in Belgrade ...

and its magazine ''Zenit''. Both he and his brother, Branko Ve Poljanski became prominent ''

avant-garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

'' artists.

Biography

He studied philosophy at

University of Zagreb The University of Zagreb ( hr, Sveučilište u Zagrebu, ; la, Universitas Studiorum Zagrabiensis) is the largest Croatian university and the oldest continuously operating university in the area covering Central Europe south of Vienna and all of ...

. He founded the review ''Zenit'', set up a Zenit Gallery and published his own writings and other authors under the Zenit imprint. Zenit was active from February 1921 until April 1924 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital and largest city of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb stands near the international border between Croatia and Slov ...

, and afterward in Belgrade from 1924 until late 1926 with a total of 43 editions. The first artist to collaborate with Micić and to contribute to Zenit's orientation towards Expressionism was Vilko Gecan. Micić's Zenitism was supported by a small number of younger Yugoslav artists, namely

Mihajlo Petrov Mihajlo S. Petrov (1902-1983) was a Serbian-Yugoslavian avant-garde painter, graphic artist, illustrator, etcher, and art critic. Biography After he completed his studies under the tutelage of Ljubomir Ivanović at the Arts and Crafts School and ...

, Vasa Pomorišac,

Jovan Bijelić Jovan Bijelić ( sr-cyr, Јован Бијелић ( – 12 March 1964) was a painter and academic. Bijelić is one of the most important representatives of color expressionism in Yugoslavia. The Department of Fine Arts and Music of the Serbian ...

, Petar Dobrović, Ivan Radović. Micić worked on collecting and exhibiting avant-garde art in Zenit editorial offices in

and Belgrade, and he organized Zenit international exhibitions of new art in Belgrade in 1924. Micić initially followed

expressionistic Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

ideas, which can be seen in the introductory text of the first Zenit, and in texts of authors including

Miloš Crnjanski Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-cyr, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, and a diplomat. Biography Crnjanski was born in Csongrád (mode ...

Stanislav Vinaver Stanislav Vinaver ( sr-Cyrl, Станислав Винавер; 1 March 1891 – 1 August 1955) was a Serbian writer, poet, translator and journalist. Vinaver was born to affluent Ashkenazi Jewish parents that had immigrated to Serbia from Polan ...

Rastko Petrović Rastko Petrović (1898-1949) was a Serbian poet and writer. After serving in the Serbian Army in World War I, he studied law in Paris and became a diplomat. Based at the Yugoslav embassy in Washington, D.C. during World War II, he remained in ...

and

Dušan Matić Dušan Matić (Serbian Cyrillic: Душан Матић; 31 August 1898 – 12 September 1980) was a Serbian poet who was active as part of the Belgrade surrealist group. Biography Early life Dušan Matić was born on 31 August 1898 in Ćuprij ...

. Besides Serbian authors, international writers contributed in more than five languages, including Esperanto. The magazine established ties with

Futurists Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

, including

Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...

. Joined by Ivan Galom and Boško Tokin, he published the "Manifesto of Zenitism" in which they stated their ideas and ideology. Beside clear contradictions in their statements, Zenitists placed humans in the center of their attention and advocated antitraditionalism, antimilitarism and reaching out to new media and art forms such as radio, film, and jazz. After closing Zenit, he moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he lived from 1927-1936. Inspired by the Russian avant-garde, Micić favored the Constructivist view on creativity, denying inspiration as a term in favor of work, with a clear goal in mind. Shortly after abandoning expressionistic ideas, Micić coined the idea of ''Barbarogenije'', proposing Balkanisation and barbarisation of Europe. His ideas in favor of primitive and folk art came after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and general disappointment in the culture of Western Europe. Micić considered the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

to be an unexplored area that could offer freshness and honesty. He was also highly critical of the total value of alleged "great"

Croatian culture The culture of Croatia has roots in a long history: the Croatian people have been inhabiting the area for fourteen centuries. Linguistic anthropological evidence suggests Croats originated from orth Iran There are important remnants of the ear ...

which he considered to be inferior compared next to

Serbian culture Serbian culture is a term that encompasses the artistic, culinary, literary, musical, political and social elements that are representative of Serbs and Serbia. History The Byzantine Empire had a great influence on Serbian culture as it i ...

Legacy

His work was almost forgotten after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After his death, a collection of art and documentation of his publishing activities were found in his apartment, thus stimulating fresh research into the history and aesthetics of Zenitism. Micić's possessions, including a number of paintings, collages, drawings, books, and magazines were given to the

National Museum of Serbia The National Museum of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the largest and oldest museum in Belgrade, Serbia. It is located in the central zone of Belgrade on a square plot between the Republic Square, formerly Theatre Square, and three streets: Čika Ljubina ...

in 1980 and today they are a part of the permanent exhibition.

Works

* ''Ritmi mojih slutnja'', 1919. * ''Ritmi bez sjaja'', 1919. * ''Istočni greh'', 1920. * ''Misterij za bezbožne ljude čiste savesti'', 1920. * ''Spas duše'', 1920. * ''Stotinu vam bogova'', 1922. * ''Aeroplan bez motora'', 1925. * ''Antievropa'', 1926. * ''Hardi! A la Barbarie. Paroles zénitistes d'un barbare européen'', 1928. * ''Zéniton, L'Amant de Fata Morgana'', 1930. * ''Les Chevaliers de Montparnasse'', 1932. * ''Etre ou ne pas être i Après Saraïevo – Expédition punitive'', 1933. * ''Rien sans Amour'', 1935. * ''Barbarogénie le Décivilisateur'', 1938.

References

* Irina Subotić,
Istorijske avangarde: dadaizam - zenitizam - nadrealizam
, in ''Od Avangarde do Arkadije'', Belgrade: Clio, 2000. * Part of the article adapted from - https://monoskop.org/Ljubomir_Micić {{DEFAULTSORT:Micić, Ljubomir Austro-Hungarian Serbs 20th-century Serbian people 1895 births 1971 deaths Serbs of Croatia Zenitism

Biography

Legacy

Works

See also

References