Ferdo Kovačević
Willows on the Sava, 1913
Oil on canvas
66.3 × 91 cm
MG-461

After completing the School of Crafts in Zagreb, Ferdo Kovačević (1870–1927) went on to study painting at the School of Arts and Crafts in Vienna under Karl Karger. He was one of the founders of the Society of Croatian Artists in 1897 and exhibited at the Croatian Salon in 1898. He took part in Izidor Kršnjavi’s program to decorate the building of the Department of Religion and Education and the then National and University Library (today the Croatian State Archives), painting cityscapes of Croatian towns above the doorways (supraportes). From 1905, he worked as a professor at the School of Crafts in Zagreb, and from 1917 also at the Academy of Fine Arts. He was a corresponding member of the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts (JAZU). Since 1894, he exhibited with Vlaho Bukovac’s circle and also took part in exhibitions organized by Lada and the Croatian Art Society.
This horizontal-format painting depicts a landscape along the Sava River. The composition is horizontally divided into two equally sized fields: the sky and the grassy ground. In the middle of the image, from left to right along the riverbank, vertical willow trees without leaves are painted. The color palette is subdued. The grass is rendered in greenish-yellow and brown tones, while the sky and river appear in greyish-blue hues with whitish clouds. After his early works, which were marked by a Symbolist style, Kovačević turned toward plein air painting and realism under the influence of Bukovac. His oeuvre is characterized by countless variations on the theme of the Sava River’s continental landscape. Willows on the Sava (1913) presents a balanced, almost symmetrical composition of leafless willows lining the riverbank on a clear day. The golden light suggests late afternoon, while the striking colors of the yellow-green grass and leaden sky evoke the crispness of autumn or early spring.

Text: Ivana Rončević Elezović, Phd Museum Advisor at the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb