Milivoj Uzelac
Woman on the Beach, 1930 (detail)
Tempera on paper
495 × 375 mm
MG-980

Milivoj Uzelac (Mostar, 1897 – Cotignac, France, 1977) was one of the key figures of Croatian Modernism. He studied in Banja Luka, Zagreb, and Prague, where he refined his artistic skills. While in Prague, he was closely associated with several prominent contemporaries, including Vilko Gecan, Marijan Trepše, and Vladimir Varlaj. Together, they became known as the Prague Four, representatives of the new Expressionist movement in Croatian art. After returning from Prague in 1919, Uzelac worked in Zagreb for only a few years before leaving for France in 1923. There, he drew inspiration from major European artistic movements such as Fauvism, Expressionism, and Cubism. Although he lived and worked in France for the rest of his life, he continued to exhibit regularly in Croatia and had a significant influence on a new generation of Croatian painters of the interwar period.
Milivoj Uzelac's work during his years in France is characterised by a freer approach to form, colour, and composition. Painted in 1930, “Woman on the Beach” reflects the artist's interest in depicting the human figure within a relaxed Mediterranean setting. At the centre of the composition is a seated female figure with elongated proportions and simplified forms, dressed in a light-coloured bathing suit. She is placed on the beach, while the sea and coastal landscape are only subtly suggested through reduced planes and a restrained palette. Warm flesh tones harmonise with the beige, grey, and blue hues of the surrounding landscape, while curved reddish bands in the lower right corner introduce rhythm and movement to the composition. Executed in tempera on paper, the work conveys a sense of immediacy and ease, as Uzelac combines fluid draftsmanship with pronounced contours to create a balanced composition in which decorative qualities and an intimate atmosphere come together—features characteristic of his French period.

Text: Luciana Fuks, Museum Documentation Curator at the National Museum of Modern Art Zagreb
Photo:  © From the National Museum of Modern Art's archives