Vladimir Becić
Soldier, 1917
watercolour on paper
468 x 328 mm
MG-2130
Alongside Josip Račić, Miroslav Kraljević, and Oskar Herman, Vladimir Becić was among the artists who advocated for the principles of “pure painting” at the beginning of the 20th century. Similar to Kraljević, Becić initially studied law but later chose to pursue art. He enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich in 1906 and subsequently attended the art school La Grande Chaumière in Paris from 1909. That same year, he exhibited at the Salon d’Automne in Paris and created several iconic works such as “Self-Portrait with Half-Cylinder” and “Still Life.” However, by 1910, he had returned to Osijek, where his parents lived. Because of his artistic and personal ties with Ivan Meštrović, who was considered persona non grata in the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy at the beginning of the century due to his advocacy for a South Slavic state, authorities prevented Becić from finding employment. In 1913, he moved to Bitola in Macedonia (then part of southern Serbia) and began working as a drawing teacher. At the onset of World War I, Becić voluntarily joined the Serbian army as a war artist. During the war, he also served as a war correspondent for the Parisian magazine L’Illustration, sending photographs and illustrations from the front lines to Paris. The watercolour ‘Soldier’ was published in a Paris magazine and was likely based on a photographic reference.
It is difficult to find a more poignant military portrait in Croatian art, than this one. Becić avoids extremes – fear, anger, or despair; instead, the soldier’s face remains serene. The calmness of the scene is accentuated by the olive hues of the uniform and the neutral background. Even the helmet, though illuminated, directs attention more to the soldier’s expression than to itself. Yet, the soldier’s gaze and the whites of his eyes – the starkness of these whites being the most dramatic aspect – convey a sense of contemplation and concern inherent in all profound human experiences, particularly those of wartime.
Text: Klaudio Štefančić, senior curator of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb