In Sremska Mitrovica, on August 30, 1942, one of the best Serbian painters between the two wars was executed…
He was born on January 22, 1896, in Vinkovci, where his father worked as a forestry engineer, to father Milutin and mother Persida (1875—1968), née Tubić. When he was four years old, the family moved to Šid. He attended high school in Zemun, where he began to be interested in art. He would later oppose his father’s wish for him to become a lawyer and in 1914, he enrolled in the High School of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb. He finished this school with the best grades in 1918. It was then that he began to publicly exhibit his works.
In his early works, Sava insisted on atmosphere and skillfully used colored shadows and thin layers of paint. In addition to painting, he was involved in illustration, graphics, and scenography. Sava Šumanović’s painting in this period shows the influences of Art Nouveau and Symbolism.
In the autumn of 1920, Sava went to Paris and rented a studio in Montparnasse. His teacher was André Lhote, a prominent art educator of the analytical cubism movement. In Paris, he socialized with Rastko Petrović, Modigliani, Max Jacob, and other artists. The influences of cubism are visible in this but also in later phases of the painter’s work. It can be justifiably said that Sava Šumanović brought this painting language to Serbia and that his works remain the most representative example of domestic Cubist painting.
In the following years, he lived and painted in Zagreb. The public and critics did not accept his works, so in protest, he signed his paintings with a French transcription. In 1924, he wrote the studies “A Painter on Painting” and “Why I Love Poussin’s Painting,” works that are the starting point for understanding his aesthetics. He stayed in Paris again in 1925, where he accepted the influences of Matisse’s painting.
In 1927, Sava Šumanović painted “Breakfast on the Grass,” which received excellent reviews in France. A little later, in 7 days and nights of intense work, he painted the picture “The Drunken Boat,” which he exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants. The inspiration for the painting was Arthur Rimbaud’s poem of the same name, which came to him through Rastko Petrović, who recited it to him. The other inspiration was Théodore Géricault’s painting “The Raft of the Medusa.” The critics greeted this work with mixed reviews, and Sava, exhausted from the work, took the negative ones very hard.
He returned to Šid in 1928, tired of the difficult living conditions, work, and bad reviews. In Šid, he painted Srem landscapes. His solo exhibition in Belgrade was very positively reviewed by critics. The money from the sale of the paintings allowed him to go to Paris again. Significant paintings were created there: “Luxembourg Park,” “The Red Carpet,” “Bridge over the Seine.” These works are characterized by poetic realism and moderate coloristic expressionism.
During the Second World War, Šid became part of the Independent State of Croatia and the Cyrillic alphabet was a forbidden script, so Sava, out of protest, did not sign his name but only marked the year the painting was created.
Šumanović’s works from the later period are distinguished by bright colors and a lyrical atmosphere. He adapted his style, which he himself called “as I know and can,” to the motif.
After returning to Šid in 1930, he painted local landscapes and nudes. For three years, he worked on the cycle of large canvases “The Women of Šid,” and later on the cycle “Grape Pickers,” dedicated to the grape harvest.
During the Second World War, Šid became part of the Independent State of Croatia and the Cyrillic alphabet was a forbidden script, so Sava, out of protest, did not sign his name but only marked the year the painting was created.
On Velika Gospojina, August 28, 1942, Sava, along with 150 other Serbs from Šid, was arrested by the Ustaše around 6 a.m. and taken to Sremska Mitrovica. All of them were shot after torture, probably on August 30, after which they were buried in a common mass grave.
In his honor, the Sava Šumanović painting award was established.
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Source: Nationalgeographic.rs Photo: Wikimedia Commons