Poleksija Todorović (1848–1939) was a Serbian painter.

Life

She was born in

Belgrade, Serbia 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 ...

, as Poleksija Ban, the daughter of Margarita Ban and

Matija Ban Matija Ban ( sr-Cyrl, Матија Бан; 6 December 1818 – 14 March 1903) was a Serbo- Croatian poet, dramatist, and playwright. He is known as one of the earliest proponents of the Serb-Catholic movement in Dubrovnik. Ban was born in Pe ...

, Serbian writer and diplomat. The beginnings of her painting are linked to the drawing school of Jovan Deroko, and later to her husband

Stevan Todorović Stevan Todorović ( sr-cyr, Стеван Тодоровић; Novi Sad, 1832–Belgrade, 1925) was a Serbian painter and the founder of modern fencing and Sokol movement in Yugoslavia. Biography Born in Novi Sad, Todorović moved in 1839 to Szeg ...

. The Todorovićs traveled together to

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

and

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, where they studied the works of Italian masters such as

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

and

Titian Tiziano Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), Latinized as Titianus, hence known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italian Renaissance painter, the most important artist of Renaissance Venetian painting. He was born in Pieve di Cadore, near Belluno. Ti ...

. They also worked jointly on numerous large historical and religious compositions. Poleksija Todorović taught art at the Higher Women School in Belgrade for 15 years. In 1907, she was among the founders of the ''Serbian Art Association'' (''Srpsko umetničko udruženje''). She died in 1939 and was survived by her youngest daughter Ljubica Todorović.

Work and legacy

She mostly painted icons and portraits, sometimes landscapes, and worked on the iconostases in

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

Bogatić Bogatić ( sr-cyr, Богатић, ) is a town and municipality located in the Mačva District of western Serbia. As of the 2022 census, it has 24,522 residents. Geography Bogatić is located in the western part of Serbia. The nearest large ...

in 1871 and in the Holy Trinity Church in

Negotin Negotin ( sr-cyrl, Неготин, ; ) is a town and municipality located in the Bor District of Southern and Eastern Serbia, eastern Serbia. It is situated near the borders between Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria. It is the judicial center of the Bo ...

in 1901. Both sites are now protected as cultural monuments. In 1880, she was the first Serbian woman to independently paint the entire iconostasis in the courtyard chapel of St. Natalia, at the Higher Women School in Belgrade, which was unfortunately destroyed during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. There are 16 of her paintings in the collection of the National Museum. Alongside

Katarina Ivanović Katarina Ivanović (15 April 1811 – 22 September 1882) was a Serbian painter from the Austrian Empire. She is regarded as the first Serbian female painter in modern art history. Biography Ivanović was born in Veszprém in the Austrian Empir ...

and

Mina Karadžić Wilhelmina "Mina" Karadžić-Vukomanović ( sr-Cyrl, Вилхелмина "Мина" Караџић-Вукомановић; 12 July 1828, in Vienna – 12 June 1894, in ''ibidem'') was an Austrian-born Serbian painter and writer. Biography She ...

, she was one of the three Serbian women painters who worked in the 19th century.

References

{{Reflist 1848 births 1939 deaths 19th-century Serbian painters 19th-century Serbian women painters Serbian women educators Serbian art educators Serbian portrait painters Serbian landscape painters