Rista Vukanović also Risto Vukanović ( Bugovina near

Trebinje Trebinje ( sr-Cyrl, Требиње, ) is a city and municipality in Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the southernmost city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and is situated on the banks of the Trebišnjica river in the region of East Her ...

Bosnia and Hercegovina 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 ...

, then under the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, 16 April 1873 –

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 ...

, France, 16 January 1918) was a Serbian painter, the husband of painter Beta Vukanović who together founded an art school at the turn of the century that produced a generation of young Serbian artists after the

Great 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 ...

Biography

Rista Vukanović was born in the village of Bugovina near Trebinje, where, like all Herzegovinians, burdened with talent and ambition, he made his way to the world from the humble homeland. He taught elementary school in

Turnu Severin Drobeta-Turnu Severin (), colloquially Severin, is a city in Mehedinți County, Oltenia, Romania, on the northern bank of the Danube, close to the Iron Gates. It is one of six Romanian county seats lying on the river Danube. "Drobeta" is the name ...

, Romania, and a high school 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 ...

. In 1890 he enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

as a State Fellow, and after a year he moved to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, where he continued his studies with

Anton Ažbe Anton Ažbe (30 May 1862 – 5 or 6 August 1905) was a Slovene realist painter and teacher of painting. Ažbe, crippled since birth and orphaned at the age of eight, learned painting as an apprentice to Janez Wolf and at the Academies in Vienn ...

and then with Wagner. He mostly did portraits and paintings with a historical theme and was one of the most significant representatives of the Munich School in

Impressionist Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

art. He had exhibited at all Yugoslav exhibitions of the time, and in 1914 he participated in an exhibition at the

Paris Salon The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...

. Rista Vukanović met Babette Bachmayer at a private painting school in Munich in 1890. Between Beta (Babette) and one year younger, handsome Herzegovinian Rista, love was soon born, crowned with marriage, and the two left for

in 1898. The married Vukanović couple received permission from the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

in 1899 to inherit the first Serbian painting and drawing school from the estate of its deceased founder,

Kiril Kutlik Cyril Kutlík (; 29 March 1869 – 4 April 1900) was a Slovak-Czech painter, educator and illustrator. He was the founder of the Serbian Drawing and Painting School, one of the first modern painting schools in Belgrade (1895). An advocate of histor ...

. Rista took over the inventory of the school and with the same government subvention, started his own school with the help of his wife on 17 April 1900. In 1902, with the funds inherited by Beta from Germany, they constructed a new building which became their family house and an art school at the same time. From this school developed the Royal Art School in Belgrade and later the

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. ...

. 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 ...

, when the

Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,; ; , ; were one of the two main coalitions that fought in World War I (1914–1918). It consisted of the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and the Kingdom of Bulga ...

invaded Serbia, Rista and Beta Vukanović left with the Serbian Army over the mountains of Montenegro and Albania to Greece. After some time in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, they arrived in

. During wartime, Rista acted as a Serbian schoolmaster in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

."Београдске општинске новине", Београд 1. јануар 1940. године Near the end of the hostilities, Rista fell ill and died in a sanatorium in 1918, and was buried in Thiais cemetery in Paris, where nearly 750 Serb warriors were buried, seriously wounded on various fronts in World War I, and then transferred to France for treatment, where many died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vukanović, Rista 20th-century Serbian painters People from Trebinje Region Imperial Academy of Arts alumni Munich School University of Arts in Belgrade people Year of birth uncertain 1918 deaths Serbs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Serbian military personnel of World War I