Stevan Luketić
(1925 – 2002)
Currents, 1962
iron, 65 x 34 x 30 cm
MG-4435
Stevan Luketić is a Croatian sculptor of Montenegrin origin, who graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 1955 (F. Kršinić) and worked as an associate of sculptor V. Bakić from 1952 to 1958. Since 1987, he worked as a professor at the Faculty of Cultural Studies in Cetinje, which became the Faculty of Fine Arts in 1988.
Initially, he created figural sculptures with reduced details. In the 1960s, with the series made from wrought iron and iron plates, he moved away from objective reality and was one of the most prominent representatives of Art Informel poetics in Croatian sculpture. Luketić’s geometry, coordination of elements and overall understanding of sculpture is not characterised by serenity, but by ferocity and dynamism, even when the sculpture is made of reflective metals that radiate elegance and harmony. In the 1990s, he created a series of sculptures from olive roots, which he used in their original form and accented with paint. Structures are also the main motif of his drawings, which he made in mixed media. He confidently created public sculptures that correspond with his sculptural oeuvre based on dynamic rhythm and elaborate surfaces.
The structure and the strong general impression of the sculpture Currents are a good example of Luketić’s expressive and concise forms.
Text: Tatijana Gareljić, museum consultant © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2022