Kossa Bokchan ( sr-Cyrl, Косара Бокшан, January 1, 1925 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

– November 21, 2009 in

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 ...

) was a Serbian painter who lived in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. She married Petar Omčikus (Pierre Omcikous).

Education

In 1928, when Bokchan was three, her parents moved to

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, as a teen, she studied painting with

Mladen Josić Mladen Josić (15 July 1897, Bečej - 1 October 1972, Paris) was a Serbian painter. He had his own ''atelier'' in Belgrade where art students came to hone their skills, many becoming renowned academic painters and sculptors. Biography Mladen ...

and in 1944, at the studio of

Zora Petrović Zora Petrović (Dobrica, May 17, 1894 – Belgrade, May 25, 1962) was a Serbs, Serbian painter. Her notable works can be seen in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, and in Pavle Beljanski Memorial Coll ...

. Afterwards, Bokchan enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, in the class of

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 ...

. Others in the class included Petar Omčikus (Bokchan's future husband),

Mića Popović Miodrag "Mića" Popović (12 June 1923 – 22 December 1996) was a Serbian painter, experimental filmmaker and one of the major figures of the Yugoslav Black Wave. Life and work Popović was born on 12 June 1923 in Loznica. He finished grammar s ...

, Bata Mihailović, Vera Božičković, Ljubinka Jovanović and Mileta Andrejević.

Career

In 1947, Bokchan joined a post-war Yugoslav

art commune Art colonies are organic congregations of artists in towns, villages and rural areas, who are often drawn to areas of natural beauty, the prior existence of other artists, art schools there, or a lower cost of living. They are typically mission- ...

, ''Zadarska grupa'' (Zadar's group). Bokchan first exhibited her work in 1950. Her first solo exhibition was 1952. Bokchan then moved to Paris with Petar Omčikus. She made Paris her home and had her first exhibition there in 1954. From 1960, she made regular summer trips to

Vela Luka Vela Luka () is a small town and the only naselje , settlement in the eponymous municipality in Dubrovnik-Neretva County in southern Dalmatia, Croatia. The town is located on the western side of the island of Korčula at the bottom of a wide bay ...

Korčula Korčula () is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea. It has an area of , is long and on average wide, and lies just off the Dalmatian coast. Its 15,522 inhabitants (2011) make it the second most populous Adriatic island after Krk. The populat ...

. Bokchan has exhibited in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

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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, ...

, Nancy,

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

Niš Niš (; sr-Cyrl, Ниш, ; names of European cities in different languages (M–P)#N, names in other languages), less often spelled in English as Nish, is the list of cities in Serbia, third largest city in Serbia and the administrative cente ...

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

and

Titograd Podgorica ( cnr-Cyrl, Подгорица; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Montenegro, largest city of Montenegro. The city is just north of Lake Skadar and close to coastal destinations on the Adriatic Sea. Histor ...

. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade held a Bokchan retrospective in 2001. From 5 March 2010 to 27 April 2010, the Serbian cultural centre in the Latin quarter of Paris held a Bokchan retrospective. Bokchan was also published as an illustrator.Goerres K
"Community Young European Artist: Bokchan, Bouqueton."
Exhibition Suermondt Museum, Aachen. 1955. Accessed in German at Google Books 22 November 2013.

Art

Kossa Bokchan's painting has changed over time. One early stage was her transition from socialist realism to genres outside that dogma such as landscapes and portraits. This was evident in her first exhibition. She also moved away from genres taught at the Academy which she described as "still life and skeletons". Bokchan's style belongs to the school of expressive realism. Her move to Paris began her stylistic journey towards contemporary art trends, especially geometric and lyrical abstraction and from there towards the informal. After 1961, Bokchan returned to realism as determined by 'The Paris School'. Michel Ragon, art historian, suggested this was a type of abstract naturalism. Bokchan's art is also influenced by the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

tradition. Bokchan transforms mythical symbols into artistic expression.

Awards

*1968 Ministry of Culture and Communication, Paris *2000 Special Award on VI International Biennial of Miniature Art,

Gornji Milanovac Gornji Milanovac ( sr-Cyrl, Гoрњи Милановац, ) is a town and municipality located in the Moravica District of central Serbia. The population of the town is 23,109, while the population of the municipality is 38,985 (2022 census data). ...

Bibliography (selection)

*Jean-Clarence Lambert, Actualité, Opus international, No 8, Paris, 1968 *Georges Boudaille, 'Yougoslave 68', rendez-vous international, Les lettres françaises, No 1248, s. 24-27, Paris, 1968 *Jeanine Warnod, Grâce a un mécénat populaire, une petite île yougoslave crée la ville de la mosaïque, Le Figaro, Paris, 1968 *Georges Boudaille, Le Salon de Mai 1969, Les lettres françaises, No 1284, s. 21-27, Paris, 1960 *Jeanine Warnod, Rencontre d'artistes à Vela Luka, Le Figaro, Paris, 1970 * Jean Senac, Les fermes solaires de Kossa Bokchan, Opus international, No 18, s. 19-20, Paris, 1970 *Gerald Gassiot Talabot, Vela Luka actualités, Opus international, No 21, s. 53-56, Paris, 1970 *Gerald Gassiot Talabot, Sur une île dalmate, Annales, Paris, 1970 *Joseph Ryckwert, La Bienalle de Vela Luka suit isola di curzola Yugoslavia, Domus, No 491, Milano, 1970 *Georges Boudaille, Giorgio di Genova, Galleria 'il Grifo (pref) Rome, 1974 *Anne Tronche, 'Face a Femmes', (pref), Le Havre, 1978 *Georges Boudaille, Anne Tronche, (pref), Nancy, 1995

References

Sources

* Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade * Kosara Bokšan, a retrospective exhibition catalog, Museum of Contemporary Art, Belgrade, 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bokchan 1925 births 2009 deaths 20th-century Serbian painters 21st-century Serbian painters 20th-century Serbian women painters 21st-century Serbian women painters Serbian abstract painters