Ivan Picelj
Composition "Tyma 3", 1951
oil on canvas
81 × 65 cm
MG-4081

Ivan Picelj (1924–2011) was a painter, graphic artist and designer, and a leading figure in geometric abstraction in post-war Europe. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (1943–1946) but left before graduating, prioritising artistic independence over academic completion. As a founding member of EXAT 51 (1951–1956), Picelj played a central role in promoting abstract art and the synthesis of fine and applied arts in Yugoslavia. In the early 1960s, he became one of the initiators and key organisers of the international New Tendencies movement (1961–1973) in Zagreb, producing programmed and optical works that investigated visual perception, serial structures and systematic variation. His practice extended beyond painting to include graphic design, silkscreen prints, reliefs and objects, challenging traditional hierarchies between art and design.
In Tyma 3, Picelj maintains the constructivist framework but introduces curved elements that soften the strictly orthogonal order. The interaction of straight and rounded forms produces dynamic tension, while contrasting colours activate the surface. The painting demonstrates that early EXAT 51 abstraction was not rigidly purist, but rather receptive to experimentation within the boundaries of geometric order.

Text: Marta Radman, curator at the National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Marta Radman
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb