Origins
Montenegro has been nourished by a mixture of influences. While Italian culture spread to the coasts, Byzantine codes permeated the monasteries, such as Piva and Morača. It was here that icon painting, inherited from Orthodox Christianity, flourished. Apart from a few Baroque painters who mainly painted ships and portraits in the Kotor Mouths, Montenegrin painting was mainly inspired by religious traditions until the end of the 19th century. The works of the greatest Montenegrin and Yugoslav artists of the 19th and 20th centuries are exhibited in the National Art Museum in Cetinje.
Religious painting
The foundations of national pictorial expression can be traced back to the medieval tradition of icon painting and religious frescoes, which had its golden age in Montenegro in the 17th century. One of the first great figures of religious painting in the country was Georgije Mitrofanović (11th century), a friar from the monastery of Chilandari (or Hilandar) on Mount Athos (northern Greece). The originator of some of the paintings in the monastery of Morača, he influenced his successors, especially Kyr Kozma. A native of Berane, the priest Strahinja (late 16th-early 17th century), who was very active for some 40 years, worked in the monasteries of Piva, Pljevlja, Morača, Gradište and in the church of St. Nicholas in Podvrh, among others. Considered the most gifted painter of the 17th century, Kyr Kozma began his career at the Gradište monastery. There, he works, with father Strahinja, on the frescoes of the church of Saint Nicholas. Today, his most beautiful works can be seen in the monasteries of Piva and Morača. Tripo Kokolja (1661-1713) was responsible for the paintings in the interior of the Church of Our Lady of Škrpjela, off the coast of Perast, and marks the peak of Baroque painting in Montenegro.
Finally, we should mention the Dimitrijević-Rafailović family, which includes eleven painters over five generations. It practiced from the end of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century, mainly in the Kotor Mouths. It is estimated that she produced several thousand icons and several dozen iconostases, in Montenegro but also in Herzegovina. The Municipal Museum of Herceg Novi exhibits some of their icons.Painting in the 20th century
It was only in the 20th century, and particularly in the interwar period, that Montenegro saw the emergence of local artists whose fame extended beyond the national borders. The first, Anastas Bocarić (1864-1944), trained in Athens before working in Cetinje where he specialized in academic portraiture.
After the First World War, young Montenegrin talents left to train in Belgrade, the center of the new state. Among them is Petar Lubarda (1905-1974), the most prominent Montenegrin painter, along with Branko Filipović. Born in Cetinje, he studied at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, where he won the grand prize at the 1937 International Exhibition. After the war, he created the first art school in Montenegro and, in 1951, organized two exhibitions in Paris. His dreamlike compositions, mixing expressionist themes and postmodern images, quickly set him apart from his peers; of gigantic size, they adorn prestigious places, such as the former Palace of the Yugoslav Federation in Belgrade (renamed Palace of Serbia). Two other important painters of this generation are Pero Poček and Milo Milunović.
From the next generation, the painter and sculptor Vojo Stanić (born 1924 in Podgorica) participated in the 1996 Venice Biennale, the painter Dimitrije Popović (born 1951 in Cetinje), strongly influenced by the Renaissance masters, and the unclassifiable Dado, who lived in France in the 1950s-1960s.
Dado, an art brut
Miodrag-Dado Djurić (1933-2010) produced a pictorial oeuvre of stunning freedom. His murals have taken over chapels, his installations have caused a sensation, his paintings have been exhibited in New York and Washington, Paris and Brussels. In Montenegro, the National Art Museum in Cetinje preserves some of his early works. Born in Cetinje into a wealthy family, he fell into the creative world at a very young age. As a child, Dado created his first fresco in the family home. Later, the artist was spotted by Jean Dubuffet, the father of art brut, with whom he became friends. In 1960, Dado settled in Gisors in a disused cinema which became the theatre of his galloping imagination. However, his inspiration remained rooted in Montenegro. In 1991, he presented an installation dedicated to Danilo Kiš at the first Biennial of Cetinje, which was later moved to his "anti-museum", now the Dado Workshop, on King Nikola Square
Nowadays
In Podgorica, street art likes to play hide-and-seek and is best dispersed outside the city centre. Most of the murals carry a political message, deforestation being one of the main concerns of Montenegrin youth. Some clues to guide your stalking: the Blok 5 buildings erected in the 1980s a few hundred meters from Preko Morače collect graffiti and a few murals. Closer to the centre, facades visible from the park above the Kayak Club are covered in paintings
Living art can also be found in the country's many art galleries. The largest is in Cetinje. The Miodrag Dado Djuric Gallery has been playing a major role in promoting Montenegrin art on the international scene since 2012. In Podgorica, CSUGC exhibits renowned artists, including Aleksandar Duravčević and Mario Schifano in a bright space. The discovering Pizana Gallery spreads Montenegrin art abroad. In the heart of the city, Al Galerija has a collection of sculptures and paintings by Milo Milunović, Vojo Stanić or Catherine Švabić. Opened in 1994, the Most Gallery is now a true cultural centre open to all modes of artistic expression. In passing, one can admire works by the national Dado. In its program, the place takes care to preserve the rich history of Podgorica, from the Ottoman occupation to the present day. Let's face it: Montenegro is full of energy!
