Adela Ber (30 December 1888 – 28 October 1966) was the first female artist from

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 ...

to be educated at an

art school An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on practice and related theory in the visual arts and design. This includes fine art – especially illustration, painting, contemporary art, sculpture, and graphic design. T ...

and a pioneer of women's rights in her country. Her works includes portraits and

still life A still life (: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, human-m ...

paintings of Bosnian landscapes.

Early life

Ber was born in

Tuzla Tuzla (, , ) is the List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, third-largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the administrative center of Tuzla Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As of 2013, it has a population of 110,979 inha ...

, Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1888. Her mother hailed from

Livno Livno ( Serbo-Croatian Cyrillic: ''Ливно'', ) is a town and the administrative center of the Township of Livno and Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bis ...

Education

After completing a higher girls' school in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

, Ber aspired to become a teacher. She left for

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1908, first enrolling in a private

, then, in 1910, in a private women's art school. During her studies in Vienna, she lived in dire circumstances, unable to get a scholarship because she was a woman, the state feeling that money spent on educating women was "thrown away". Owing to her great talent, a college professor at the Vienna school decided to provide her with a free education.

Career

After graduating in June 1914, she returned to Sarajevo with hopes of opening a private painting school.

World War I 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 ...

broke out later that same month when

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, assassination in Sarajevo was the ...

was

assassinated Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

by Bosnian Serb nationalist

Gavrilo Princip Gavrilo Princip ( sr-Cyrl, Гаврило Принцип, ; 25 July 189428 April 1918) was a Bosnian Serb student who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife Sophie, Duchess von ...

. The outbreak of war made it impossible for Ber to open a painting school. Ber organized her first solo art exhibit in Sarajevo after the First World War in 1919. Ber died in 1966, aged 77.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ber, Adela 1888 births 1966 deaths Artists from Tuzla 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina painters Yugoslav painters 20th-century women painters 20th-century Bosnia and Herzegovina women