{"id":3239,"date":"2025-01-23T12:35:15","date_gmt":"2025-01-23T12:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/2025\/01\/23\/i-want-to-be-a-painter-not-a-woman-there-are-plenty-of-women-nadezda-petrovic\/"},"modified":"2025-02-04T13:32:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-04T13:32:36","slug":"i-want-to-be-a-painter-not-a-woman-there-are-plenty-of-women-nadezda-petrovic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/i-want-to-be-a-painter-not-a-woman-there-are-plenty-of-women-nadezda-petrovic\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cI Want to Be a Painter, Not a Woman\u2014There Are Enough Women\u2026\u201d \u2013 Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107"},"content":{"rendered":"

These words appear in a letter Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107 wrote to her mother, recalling the disappointment<\/strong> of her only engagement in 1898<\/strong>, which she ended after feeling insulted<\/strong> by her future mother-in-law\u2019s bargaining over the amount of dowry<\/strong>. She made her stance clear:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you truly wish me happiness, then you will expect me to be a painter, not a woman seeking marriage.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Nade\u017eda
Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107 \u2013 Valjevo Hospital<\/em>, 1915<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107 was a woman ahead of her era<\/strong>, possessing many qualities that were, at the time, reserved for men<\/strong>. She was a political activist<\/strong>, a declared patriot<\/strong>, and a fearless volunteer nurse<\/strong>. She died of typhus<\/strong> in the First Reserve Hospital in Valjevo<\/strong>, after selflessly caring for wounded soldiers during World War I<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Her last brushstrokes captured the tents of the Valjevo hospital<\/strong>, as well as the breath of death<\/strong> that she seemed to foresee. Writing about Nade\u017eda inevitably carries a heroic tone<\/strong>\u2014she consciously rejected all offers of evacuation<\/strong> from the horrors of war, extended to her by the Supreme Command in Ni\u0161<\/strong>. She was determined to help<\/strong> those fighting for the freedom of her homeland, and for this, she was awarded the Medal for Bravery<\/strong>. That same bravery led her to death\u2014and death to immortality<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Nade\u017eda\u2019s paintings were criticized and rejected<\/strong> in her own time. The artistic scene of the still-young Kingdom of Serbia<\/strong> could not comprehend the bold, unyielding brushstrokes<\/strong> of Petrovi\u0107\u2019s work. When she held her first solo exhibition<\/strong> in the summer of 1900<\/strong>, a review in Nova Iskra<\/em> harshly condemned her:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cAfter studying at the Academy, after years of walking among the works of old and new masters, does the young lady really find no better or more beautiful inspiration for her impassioned youth than these \u2018Impressionist works\u2019\u2014that sick and rotten understanding of sick and rotten minds?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Yet, the criticism did not deter her. She continued her studies in Munich<\/strong>, later refining her skills in Rome, Venice, Berlin, and Paris<\/strong>. She visited major exhibitions across Europe<\/strong>, developing a distinctive artistic expression<\/strong>\u2014rooted in Impressionism<\/strong>, but also Expressionism<\/strong>, sometimes verging on complete abstraction<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With bold, energetic brushstrokes<\/strong>, she painted her family members, Serbian peasants, landscapes, and historical monuments<\/strong>. She once wrote about herself:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat else could I become, I, Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107, daughter of Dimitrije and Milena, but a Serbian painter\u2014when instead of my first childhood photograph, I have a drawing? My father, Dimitrije Mita Petrovi\u0107, trained in painting by the great Steva Todorovi\u0107, devoted himself to drawing when I was a child, teaching it at the Realka in \u010ca\u010dak. Back then, I looked at my drawings more often than I looked at myself in the mirror.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As her own words suggest, patriotism and art were inseparable for Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107<\/strong>. Her modernist approach to art<\/strong> aligned with contemporary ideas of national unity and the unification of all South Slavs<\/strong>, first on a cultural level<\/strong>, then on a political<\/strong> one.<\/p>\n

Immediately after returning from Munich in 1903<\/strong>, Nade\u017eda, along with a group of educated and courageous women<\/strong>, founded the Circle of Serbian Sisters<\/strong>, a civic association aimed at spreading national consciousness<\/strong>\u2014not only among Serbs in the occupied southern regions<\/strong> but also among those north of the Sava and Danube and west of the Drina<\/strong>. She actively carried out the political ideas promoted by the intellectual elite<\/strong> during the reign of King Peter I Kara\u0111or\u0111evi\u0107<\/strong>, ideas championed by Jovan Skerli\u0107, Mlada Bosna<\/strong>, and other national movements.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Petrovi\u0107 played a key role in organizing the First Yugoslav Art Exhibition<\/strong> in 1904<\/strong>, hosted by students of the Great School<\/strong> (precursor to the University of Belgrade). The exhibition brought together 96 artists<\/strong>\u2014Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, and Bulgarians<\/strong>\u2014demonstrating her vision of cultural unity<\/strong>. That same year, Serbia celebrated the centennial of the First Serbian Uprising<\/strong>, along with the coronation of King Peter I<\/strong>, events that further fueled the gathering of Yugoslav youth<\/strong> around shared ideals.<\/p>\n

In the following years, Nade\u017eda traveled across Serbia<\/strong>, participating in art colonies in Si\u0107evo (near Pirot) and Resnik<\/strong>. During this period, her work centered on Serbian peasants and the Serbian land<\/strong>, portraying them as they truly were<\/strong>\u2014not romanticized, but honest and raw<\/strong>, a reflection of her own deep identification with them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Unlike many artists of her time, who idealized picturesque landscapes and colorful folk costumes<\/strong>, Nade\u017eda did not mask the hardships<\/strong> of rural life. Instead, she painted peasants and their surroundings in vivid yet somber tones<\/strong>, using rough, dynamic brushstrokes<\/strong>, creating images that were sometimes harsh, even unsettling<\/strong>. Her unfiltered realism<\/strong> did not sit well with the urban elite, who preferred art that beautified reality<\/strong> rather than exposed it.<\/p>\n

Despite her deep connections with the intellectual and political elite<\/strong>\u2014many of whom were frequent visitors to the Petrovi\u0107 family home in Ratarska Street<\/strong> (today 27th March Street<\/strong>) in Belgrade<\/strong>\u2014Nade\u017eda did not see peasants and workers as opposites to the urban bourgeoisie<\/strong>. Instead, she viewed them as the foundation of the modern Serbian state<\/strong>, the true predecessors of city dwellers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

And so, she painted them as such<\/strong>\u2014with dignity, with hardship, but above all, with truth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107, Seljanka iz \u0160umadije, before 1910.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107, Kraljevi\u0107 Marko and Milo\u0161 Obili\u0107, 1910.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the most intriguing stories from Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107\u2019s artistic journey<\/strong> is that of her painting Seljanka iz \u0160umadije<\/em>, which she most likely took with her to Paris in 1910<\/strong>. During this time, she stayed in the studio of her close friend<\/strong>, the renowned sculptor Ivan Me\u0161trovi\u0107<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At the time, Me\u0161trovi\u0107 was deeply immersed in the creation of sculptures for his grand, but unrealized, Vidovdan Temple<\/strong>, drawing inspiration from the Kosovo Myth<\/strong>. Spending time with him, Nade\u017eda also became increasingly fascinated by the most celebrated Serbian epic narrative<\/strong>, translating it into a Secessionist, decorative form<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On the reverse side of Seljanka iz \u0160umadije<\/em><\/strong>, she painted two legendary Serbian epic heroes\u2014Marko Kraljevi\u0107 and Milo\u0161 Obili\u0107<\/strong>. For years, these works remained together as a single piece<\/strong>, until they were successfully separated through restoration work<\/strong> at the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection<\/strong>, where both paintings are preserved today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In her works, we can recognize elements of Impressionist brushwork<\/strong>, at times Expressionist intensity<\/strong>, and even Fauvist boldness<\/strong>. Some of her paintings embody Symbolist mysticism<\/strong>, others Impressionist flirtations with light<\/strong>, while a number of them serve as a vivid expression of political ideology through color<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

During her time in Paris, Rome, and Venice<\/strong>, she painted Notre Dame, the Colosseum, and St. Mark\u2019s Basilica<\/strong>\u2014landmarks that symbolize the cultural and historical identity<\/strong> of these cities. She did the same in Serbia<\/strong>, especially during the Balkan Wars and World War I<\/strong>, when she transferred monuments of national history<\/strong> onto canvas\u2014painting the De\u010dani and Gra\u010danica monasteries (several times), the city of Prizren, and the Vezirov Bridge<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

At first glance, these works exhibit striking modernity<\/strong>\u2014flattened motifs, rapid brushstrokes, raw color, and a lack of narrative<\/strong>. However, considering the circumstances in which they were created<\/strong>, their meaning extends beyond formal modernist purity.<\/p>\n

These paintings were made between shifts as a volunteer nurse<\/strong>, while Petrovi\u0107 traveled alongside the Serbian army<\/strong>\u2014first as it liberated<\/strong>, then as it defended these regions<\/strong>. Seen in this context, her art is more than just an experiment in form; it is a testament to war, resilience, and national memory<\/strong>\u2014painted not from a distance, but from within the very heart of battle<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107, Vizier’s Bridge, 1913.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
The back of the painting Vizier’s Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A testament to Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107\u2019s intertwined artistic and patriotic identity<\/strong> is her painting Vezirov ili Most cara Du\u0161ana<\/em>, on the back of which she left a handwritten note<\/strong>. In it, she recorded a brutal moment in history\u2014the execution of forty enemy soldiers in retaliation for the deaths of eight Serbian brothers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

This inscription is more than just a historical footnote\u2014it is evidence of Nade\u017eda\u2019s direct presence in the Serbian liberation struggles<\/strong>. Unlike traditional war artists<\/strong>, who observed and documented battles from a safe distance, she was on the front lines<\/strong>, not only as a painter but as a nurse<\/strong>, actively aiding the wounded while also creating artworks that carried both documentary and ideological significance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Her art and patriotism were inseparable<\/strong>, and this deep fusion of identity is unmistakably reflected in her work<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Much more could be written about Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107<\/strong>, but we will stop here. Let this short tribute<\/strong> serve as a reminder of a true heroine of Serbian painting<\/strong>, but also a hero of Serbian suffering and resilience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Her legacy lives on in the National Museum in Belgrade<\/strong>, the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection in Novi Sad<\/strong>, the Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107 Art Gallery in \u010ca\u010dak<\/strong>, and other institutions that preserve her many works<\/strong>, waiting to be seen and appreciated.<\/p>\n

Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107 was\u2014and remains\u2014an inspiration. She lived and died true to herself, leaving behind a legacy of courage, vision, and unshakable belief in her art and her people.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These words appear in a letter Nade\u017eda Petrovi\u0107 wrote to her mother, recalling the disappointment of her only engagement in 1898, which she ended after feeling insulted by her future mother-in-law\u2019s bargaining over the amount of dowry. She made her stance clear:   \u201cIf you truly wish me happiness, then you will expect me to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3092,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3239","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3239","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3239"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3420,"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3239\/revisions\/3420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/umetnickifaktor.rs\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}