Miloš Bajić ( sr-cyr, Милош Бајић; 1915 - 1995) was a Serbian

Modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

painter, who is considered to be the founder of abstract painting in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Early life

Miloš Bajić was born in 1915 in

Resanovci Resanovci ( sr-cyrl, Ресановци) is a village in the Municipality of Bosansko Grahovo in Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-He ...

, a village in the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

(now

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

). In 1922, Bajić moved to

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 ...

, the capital of

(now

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

), where he completed grammar school and teacher school. As a student, he published illustrations and caricatures in the daily ''

Politika ( sr-Cyrl, Политика, lit=Politics) is a Serbian daily newspaper, published in Belgrade. Founded in 1904 by Vladislav F. Ribnikar, it is the oldest daily newspaper still in circulation in the Balkans. Publishing and ownership is publ ...

'' and satirical magazine ''Ošišani jež''. In 1935, Bajić became one of Petar Dobrović's students, finishing his first year in Beta Vukanović's class at the Belgrade School of Arts in 1937.

World War II

After

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

was invaded by the Axis powers of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, and

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

in 1941, Bajić joined the Partisans, Yugoslav anti-Nazi

resistance movement A resistance movement is an organized group of people that tries to resist or try to overthrow a government or an occupying power, causing disruption and unrest in civil order and stability. Such a movement may seek to achieve its goals through ei ...

. Occupying forces captured him in Belgrade in October 1942 and imprisoned him in

Banjica Concentration Camp The Banjica concentration camp (, sr-Cyrl-Latn, Бањички логор, Banjički logor) was a Nazi German concentration camp in the Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia, the military administration of the Third Reich established af ...

. In September 1944, he was transferred to

Mauthausen concentration camp Mauthausen was a German Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen, Upper Austria, Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with List of subcamps of Mauthausen, nearly 100 f ...

. While in detention, Bajić captured the scenes from prison life as drawings. and later said about his work: After the liberation of the camp by American forces, Bajić returned to

with about 150 drawings and continued his education at

University of Arts in Belgrade The University of Arts in Belgrade ( sr-cyr, Универзитет уметности у Београду, Univerzitet umetnosti u Beogradu) is a public university in Serbia. It was founded in 1957 as the Academy of Arts to unite four academies. ...

Later years

In 1949, he graduated from the Academy of Arts in Belgrade in the class of

Milo Milunović Milo Milunović (Cyrillic: Мило Милуновић; Born 6 August 1897 – 11 February 1967) was a Montenegrin painter. He dabbled in both Impressionism and Cubism. Biography Milunović was born in Cetinje, Montenegro, but was educated in S ...

Ivan Tabaković Ivan Tabaković (10 December 1898, Arad – 27 June 1977, Belgrade) was an Austro-Hungarian-born Serbian painter. Biography Tabaković was born in Arad, then part of the Habsburg Empire, in 1898, a son of noted Serbian architect Milan T ...

, and

Nedeljko Gvozdenović Nedeljko Gvozdenović ( sr-Cyrl, Недељко Гвозденовић; 24 February 1902 – 31 January 1988) was a Serbian painter of world renown. He is considered to be the greatest representative of the Belgrade School of Painting. See also * ...

. After finishing his specialist training with Marko Čelebonović, he became one of the first assistant professors at the Belgrade Academy of Arts and worked as a professor until he retired in 1979. He was a member of the groups “Independent” (1951–55) and "The December Group" (1955-60), which used

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

as a way of fighting socialist realism. He had his first individual exhibition at the ULUS Gallery in Belgrade in 1952. He participated in founding the Art Colony in

Bačka Topola Bačka Topola ( sr-Cyrl, Бачка Топола, ; , ) is a town and municipality located in the North Bačka District of the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The municipality is composed of 23 local communities and, according to the 202 ...

(1953). This is where he completed his first large format mosaic and obelisk dedicated to the space conquest. His later work is characterised by numerous mosaics and fresco paintings (compositions in space), and particularly the memorial construction Partisan Necropolis in

(1971). In 1967, he exhibited for the first time the new cycle of large format Mauthausen paintings, inspired by the drawings he made during his time in the concentration camp. In 1975, Bajić published the monograph “Mauthausen 106621”. In the preface, he said:

Family

His son is the film director

Darko Bajić Darko Bajić (born on 14 May 1955) is a Serbian film director. He directed many movies and TV series popular with Serbian audience such as War Live (film), War Live, The Black Bomber, Sivi dom and Zaboravljeni. Filmography * Sivi dom (1985), ...

Mauthauzen Collection

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajic, Milos 1915 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Serbian painters Serbian abstract painters Mosaic artists Fresco painters University of Arts in Belgrade alumni Mauthausen concentration camp survivors Yugoslav Partisans members Yugoslav prisoners of war People from Bosansko Grahovo Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina