Mijo Kovačić (born 5 August 1935 in Gornja Šuma at

Molve Molve (in Hungarian ''Molna'') is a municipality in the Koprivnica–Križevci County in Croatia. According to the 2011 census, there are 2,189 inhabitants in the area. History In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Molve was part of ...

) is a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n painter and

naïve art Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...

ist. His works can be found at the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art 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 ...

Life

Kovačić was born in Gornja Šuma,

, in the

Podravina ''Podravina'' (in Croatian) or ''Podravje'' (in Slovenian) are Slavic names for the Drava river basin in Croatia and Slovenia. History Between 1929 and 1941 a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia known as the ''Drava Banovina'' (Drava province) ...

region of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. He spent his childhood painting and looking after the family cow, which became an important theme in his paintings. In 1953 at the age of eighteen he travelled to nearby

Hlebine Hlebine is a municipality in Koprivnica-Križevci County in Croatia. It consists of two villages, Hlebine and Gabajeva Greda. Population Its population is earns its living primarily from agricultural production. The population has been decreasin ...

and met the Croatian painter

Ivan Generalić Ivan Generalić (December 21, 1914 – November 27, 1992) was a Croatian painter in the naïve tradition. Biography Generalić was born in Hlebine near Koprivnica. In elementary school, painting lessons were his greatest joy and as a child ...

, and a year later gave his first exhibition in Koprivnica. In 2018 a gallery devoted to his work opened in Koprovnica.

Work

The art of Mijo Kovačić is a late example of the Hlebine School of Croatian naïve art. His work often portrays rural wonderlands and the harsh peasant life of rural Croatia, described by academic and art critic Tonko Maroević as,

"With his memory he has evoked the rural environment almost unspoilt by civilisation, and his paintings renew the existential premises of action in limited, ‘untamed’ conditions of existence in a so-to-speak authentic natural setting. It has been said, and supported by many good reasons, that Kovačić’s painting are often of a medieval character, imbued with religion and mystique, inspired by apocalyptic suggestions and a Bosch- Bruegel-like narrative style."

Kovačić's work typically consists of oil on glass.

References

External links

Mijo Kovačić Homepage

Galeria Mijo Kovačić (Facebook)
20th-century Croatian painters Croatian male painters 21st-century Croatian painters 21st-century male artists 1935 births Living people 20th-century Croatian male artists {{Croatia-painter-stub