Sava Šumanović (1896) parents Milutin and Persida came from prominent Šid bourgeois families. When Sava was four, the family returned to Šid. As a ten-year old, he enrolled in Real Gymnasium. It was in this period that he started showing interest in arts, so he took up a painting course by Professor Isidor Jung. Upon graduating, he returned home, determined to make painting his life calling. In 1914 Sava enrolled in Arts and Crafts College in Zagreb, which would allow him to work as a teacher.
He attended the first year in the class of Professor Oton Iveković, and the next three in the class of Klement Crnčić. The school program followed the works of old masters of art. The impressionists spurred his interest back in Zemun, so he went on to analyze and study their works on his own. He regularly took part in school exhibitions. His certificate of completed education noted the highest grades and qualifications. He did illustrations for a literary magazine Juriš, edited by A.B. Šimić. He also worked as a scenographer in the National Theater. In May 1920 he had the second independent exhibition in the Museum of Arts and Crafts.
He presented the works indicating symbolism and secession, at the time being popular in Croatian art. The exhibition earned positive reviews, he sold a great number of paintings, and with the support of his father he headed to Paris, the main center of Europe's art scene at the time. His first stay in Paris lasted only a couple of months. He enrolled in a course by a renowned art educator and artist Andre Lot, being one of his best students. Šumanović's teacher belonged to the school of analytical cubism, constructivism. It was the time when the most significant cubist paintings in the history of Serbia's art were made: A sculptor in his studio, Still life with a clock, A sailor on the pier, Port agent. Andre Lot had a major influence on Šumanović throughout his entire life.
In the summer of 1921 he returned to Zagreb, and in October he organized an exhibition of paintings following the new style taken from Lot, in the Art Pavillion. The conservative critics and audience in Zagreb did not understand his new works.
In 1925 he painted his most significant work, the Drunk Ship. He created this painting of monumental dimensions by working committedly in only seven days and nights. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants, but the critics' reviews were divided. The Drunk Ship is now a part of collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade.
Difficult work conditions, negative criticism and a series of other personal events have brought the artist to nervous exhaustion, so in 1928 he returned to Šid for recovery. This period generated the first paintings of the Šid landscape - Srem County, a series of landscapes capturing the unique light and atmosphere of his hometown. This theme earned much more of his attention later on, once he returned home to stay. In September 1928 he exhibited the paintings created in Paris at the New University in Belgrade. He earned positive impressions from both the critics and the general audience, he sold out most of the paintings and once again headed to Paris.
At home in Šid, Šumanović entirely devoted himself to painting. For the first couple of years he painted acts based on the sketches he brought from Paris, and landscapes of his immediate surroundings, and these remained the dominant themes until the end of his life.
In September 1939 he organized a great independent exhibition at the New University in Belgrade, presenting 410 paintings. Being satisfied with the achieved success, he returned to Šid and continued working with great flight, in spite of the war that had just started. He was unlucky to peacefully devote himself to what he loved the most and did with highest skill.
The war eventually came to the small town of Šid, which became part of the Independent State of Croatia in 1941. Cyrilic became a prohibited alphabet. Sava Šumanović stopped signing his paintings. In a ridiculous action organized by Ustasha group on a holy day of the Dormition of the Mother of God, on 28 August 1942, he was arrested and shot in Sremska Mitrovica, together with a large group of Šid inhabitants, and buried in a common grave. This was the tragic end of one of the greatest Serbian painters of all times.
© 2020. All content on this blog is protected by international copyright laws All images are copyrighted © by Sava Šumanović or assignee. Apart from fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review as permitted under the Copyright Act, the use of any image from this site is prohibited unless prior written permission is obtained. All images used for illustrative purposes only
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Mr. Sava Šumanović,
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Mornar na molu. 1921
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Bridge and a City, 1921
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Parisian Suburbs. 1921
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Shepherdess. 1924
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Akt u enterijeru. 1926
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White Vase. 1926
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Detail of The Lunchon on the grass. 1927
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Luncheon on the Grass. 1927
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Pijana lađa. 1927
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Bar u Parizu. 1929
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Morning.1929
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Nude Woman. 1929
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Seoska kuća. 1932
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Proleće u šidskim baštama. 1934
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Ženski akt u crvenoj fotelji. 1934
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Pred proleće. 1934
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Šid under Snow. 1935
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U dolini svete Petke. 1937
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Elm. 1939
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Šidski sokak pod snegom. 1940
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At the Well, n.d.
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Detail of the picture "At the Well"
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Portrait of a Woman
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