Vladimir Velickovic

Born in Belgrade in 1935 and dying in Split (Croatia) in 2019, Vladimir Véličković was a painter, draughtsman and engraver considered one of the major figures of narrative figuration. The artist experienced war when he was just six years old, and was deeply marked by its horrors, which would then haunt all his work. Indeed, Véličković's paintings (like his drawings) depict a tortured humanity inhabiting a gloomy universe; an illustration of his own anxieties about a society in decline. His first exhibition took place in Paris in 1967, revealing him to the general public. His canvases did not meet with unanimous approval, the sense of devastation in them disturbing some. Nevertheless, he was considered a great painter of his time, winning numerous exhibitions and, in 2006, a place in the Académie des Beaux-Arts. He is collected by major museums such as the Centre Pompidou.