CROATIAN FINE ARTS, Đuro Pulitika – Spring Landscape

Đuro Pulitika – Spring Landscape Đuro Pulitika (Bosanka, village above Dubrovnik, 26 January 1922 – Dubrovnik, 14 December 2006) is a modern painter of a recognizable strong coloristic expression from Dubrovnik, whose creativity has made a special contribution to Croatian landscape painting. On two occasions, he attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (1941–1943 and 1945–1947), after which he returned to his hometown. He continued his education at the Art School in Cetinje, which he completed after its relocation as the School of Applied Arts in Herceg Novi in 1950. The themes of his native region and the Mediterranean landscape are the cornerstones of his expression, with a special emphasis on his hometown area. In doing so, he uses saturated and warm color tones: red, orange, yellow, blue, green, purple. In color-intensive works, the most common are representations of landscape variations, with contouring of forms, most often present in black. He often uses the forms of a circle and a semicircle, particularly to shape trees, hills, but also female figures, often integrated into the interior. Color and light in Pulitika's distinctly authentic style are not in the service of imitating reality, but are used as tools for shaping forms and achieving psychological characterization, as well as creating emotional charge in the painting. In his depictions of interiors, the author does not present an actual space, but rather builds an introspective space, filled with nostalgia, memories, a meditative quality. The characters are typified and are usually female figures and nudes, black cats, figures of grandfathers and captains, inspired by people from his own family history, but there are empty interiors as well. Objects in the depicted interiors play the role of a narrator, so a compass, a picture, a globe, a lamp tell a story of the life of the person using the space. In his religious works, two of the most common representations stand out – the crucifixion of Christ and the mourning of Christ. Such religious representations are embedded in the landscape, most often with the hint of a hill, in a spot far removed from populated places. Jelena Tamindžija Donnart Curator Art Gallery Dubrovnik