Stavrula Mavrogeni’s book Art and Ideology in Modern Serbia fills a significant gap in Greek literature. There are no Greek publications on the art of Serbia, and few on the history of Serbia. The book traces the development of art in Serbia over a long period from the Great Serbian Migration of the late 17th century, which laid the foundations for the formation of national identity, to the last Serbian kingdom and the collapse of Austria-Hungary, which led to an alliance of Serbs with Slovenes and Croats immediately after the end of the First World War.

Thus, the book has a double benefit, as it is not only an introduction to modern art in Serbia, but also a parallel connection of art with the history and ideological demands of the new Serbian nation and state. In addition, as the author characteristically points out, painting largely performs the function of popularizing the Serbian past and subsequently contributes to the formation of national identity, so it would be impossible to consider art in isolation from ideology in this historical period. from the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century.

The book covers the history of Serbian art of those years. The starting point is folk tradition and church art. The latter is also associated with the special phenomenon of canonization, aimed at consolidating local political and spiritual identity, with various influences from the West. This describes the connection, coexistence, and sometimes contradictions of art with an ideology that coexists with the secular influence of artists inspired by the principles of the Enlightenment.

Vienna and Munich academies in the 18th-19th centuries. became the main place of study for artists and determined the development of art in accordance with Western trends. The beginning is from classicism, and the plot is mainly religious and allegorical. A typical painting by Dmitry Abramovich is Christ’s March on the Sea, 1833.

Chapters of national history are also written through many portraits of the era, which illustrate the figures of politics, church and literature. Later, in the mid to late 19th century, neoclassical austerity meets realism, and artists such as Nikola Aleksić create portraits depicting the bourgeois and bourgeois society.

The paintings of Dura Jaksic, in addition to depicting the historical moments of the nation, also bring to life the desire to create a world of opportunity for all.

Romanticism, following Classicism, initially has a timid presence in Serbian art. Thanks to the artistic contribution of Dura Jaksic, it has been established that in addition to depicting the historical moments of the nation, the heroes of his canvases bring to life the love and desire to create a world of opportunities for all. It is no coincidence that the first well-known artist of Serbia, Katarina Ivanovic, arose in the freer artistic environment of romanticism.

Historical thematography continues in the period of realism and ethnography. It is still aimed at awakening national identity, but at the same time it signals an openness to social problems. Symbolically, the freedom of nature through topography means the need for social progress, education, economic independence and justice. Characteristic is the picture of Uros Predits “Banat peasant in front of the lawyer’s door”.

Modernism in Serbian painting also has its origins in Paris, which at the end of the 19th century developed into a center of the arts. The first Serbian artistic groups and movements are formed, such as Landa and Medulic. The symbolism of Stevan Aleksić encourages viewers to discover the many levels of interpretation of a work of art. Risto Vukanovic invites viewers to reconsider the barriers of religion. Milan Milovanovic introduces the techniques of abstraction and color experiments. Nadezhda Petrovich exalts the power of nature in human existence. The book covers the late Byzantine and Ottoman years, opens a new multicultural chapter in the history of art, continues on the cultural territory of Yugoslavia. Let’s hope that this next period will also be the subject of a new editorial study by Stavrula Mavrogenis.

* Ms. Maria Tsantsanoglu is Director of MOMus – Museum of Contemporary Art – Kostaki Collection, External Lecturer of the program “Art, Culture and Politics in Eastern and Southeastern Europe” of the Department of Greek Orthodoxy of the University of Macedonia.