Pavle Paja Jovanović

The monograph Pavle Paja Jovanović is dedicated to the life and work of the most significant domestic representative of academic realism and orientalism of the 19th and 20th centuries. The author of the publication is Petar Petrović, art historian and museum advisor of the National Museum in Belgrade, who is currently the best connoisseur of Jovanović's work. Until now, Petar has been the author of several different professional publications on the subject of Jovanović's life and artistic oeuvre, among which the importance of his professional contribution stands out - Systemic catalog of the works of Paja Jovanović, where for the first time this extensive and diverse artistic oeuvre is presented in one place.

The publication published by ARTE Media brings something new compared to the existing publications about this artist. The monograph on his life and work contains not only a catalog of his most significant works from private and public collections, but also works that have not been presented to the public until now. It is about 17 works from private collections that have not been seen before.

Among the sketches, watercolors and paintings, presented for the first time, are mapped the key themes that Paja Jovanović dealt with during his long and extremely fruitful career. These are primarily historical compositions, which are one of the main themes in his work. One of the versions of the monumental painting Furor Teutonicus, which is in a private collection, was presented for the first time. The theme of the composition is the battle between Romans and Germans in the Teutoburg Forest, and in order to interpret the famous battle as faithfully as possible, Jovanović carefully studied historical and archaeological materials. The monumental composition brought him countless accolades, and he exhibited it in many world cities before all traces of it were lost around 1910. A composition by Boško Jugović was also presented, a version from 1922 in which the mythical hero rides a horse and leads soldiers into battle. From the oriental scenes to which Jovanović also devoted a large part of his oeuvre, several outstanding compositions are shown - On guard, Balkan warrior with hinge, Falconer. The third segment of the displayed works consists of the royal portraits of the Montenegrin Prince Nikola Petrović from 1903, and the lavish portrait of Queen Marija Karađorđević in national costume, made around 1922-1925. Along with them, portraits of the artist's favorite model and source of inexhaustible inspiration, his wife Hermine Mooney Dauber, were presented.