Pavle Simić (

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 ...

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

, 1818 – Novi Sad, Austro-Hungarian Empire, 17 January 1876) was one of the most significant artists during the Serbian Romantic era.

Biography

Pavle Simić was born into a family of merchants. Having lost his parents very early, he was taken in by his grandfather who was a priest in Kanjiža. During one Sunday service, he became overwhelmed with admiration for the iconostasis painted by Teodor Ilić Češljar that he decided from that moment on to become an artist. He completed his secondary education in

Sombor Sombor ( sr-Cyrl, Сомбор, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the West Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. The city has a total population of 41,814 (), while its adminis ...

and

Subotica Subotica (, ; , , ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city in Central Europe and the administrative center of the North Bačka District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. Formerly the largest city of Vojvodina region, contemporary Sub ...

, then he enrolled in a private art school in

and joined the Atelier of Aloiza Castagni, an Italian painter, originally from

Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...

. In December 1837 he moved to

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. ...

and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. There he studied the history of painting until 1841.

Lithography

Acutely aware of the ubiquitous role of graphic prints, Simić made many preparatory drawings for graphic works. His "Serbs Gathered round a Guslar Singer" was turned into a lithograph in 1839 by Johann Baptist Clarot. Simić also prepared three drawings for Anastas Jovanović's lithographs. These were the portraits "Vuk Karadžić", "Pavle Karanotvrtković" (both in 1841) and "Georgije Servijski" (1846). He also engaged lithographer Josef Anton Bauer to transfer his picture " May Assembly" in 1848.

Oeuvres

Simić painted mainly icons for the sanctuary screens (iconostases) and portraits of distinguished families of the time. Among his works are the

iconostasis In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis () is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere withi ...

of Kuveždin Monastery (1849) that of the church of

Šabac Šabac ( sr-Cyrl, Шабац, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Mačva District in western Serbia. The traditional centre of the fertile Mačva region, Šabac is located on the right banks of the river ...

(1853-1856); he worked at Stari Futog (1855), painted the iconostasis of Đurđevo in the region of Šajkaška (1857), that of the church of Saints Peter and Paul of Rumenka and that of the Serbian Orthodox Church of Saint Archangel Michael of Senta (1859) He still worked in the church of St. Nicholas of Novi Sad (1863) and in the chapel of Platon Atanacković, in the cemetery of Almaš in Novi Sad (1864). Also, his art can be found in the church of St. Nicholas of Bašaid, in the

Banat Banat ( , ; ; ; ) is a geographical and Historical regions of Central Europe, historical region located in the Pannonian Basin that straddles Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. It is divided among three countries: the eastern part lie ...

(1864-1866), the church of Orahovica Monastery in

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

(1867), the old church of Glina (1866-1868), Church of St. George of

(1870-1873) and Hariševa Chapel of Zemun (1874). Simić is even better known as a portrait painter. His portraits include ''Probojčević, Čovek u belom prsluku'' and Archpriest Matija Nenadović, some of the finest Serbian paintings of the mid-nineteenth century. Among his small portraits are Agripina Grujić and the poet Milica Stojadinović-Srpkinja. He is also the author of historical compositions, some of which has now disappeared.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simić, Pavle 1818 births 1876 deaths Painters from the Austrian Empire Painters from Austria-Hungary Serbian Austro-Hungarians

Biography

Lithography

Oeuvres

See also

References