Petar Lubarda - Legate
Petar Lubarda Legate is located in Belgrade, Senjak, at Iličićeva 1.
Abstract painting of the former Yugoslavia has several key representatives. Petar Lubarda is one of the most famous. Lubarda (1907-1977) was originally from Montenegro, Ljubotinj near Cetinje. He played an immense role in the development of art as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade, and then as the founder, director, and professor of the Art School in Cetinje, which later moved to Herceg Novi. He was a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
The building was the painter's home and studio until his death. The villa was owned by the Petrović family before the Second World War. war, he got Lubard for his home. All exhibited works were originally created here. It is believed that at the time of his death, there were around 50 works, but only 37 are on display, the rest have disappeared without a trace. The legate was in a ruined state until 2012 when it was reconstructed and opened to the public in 2014.
Lubarda's work, like most artists from this area, is partly oriented towards historical themes and narratives. The Battle of Kosovo, the Blue Tomb, Lovćen, and Njegoš were transformed into abstract representations. Here it is possible to see his concept of equalizing form and color. Color is a symbol of form.
Abstract painting is one of the main directions of painting after World War II, along with surrealism. And Lubarda chose this artistic expression to depict his emotional displays. But it is often in fact between these two directions. Surrealism contains a narrative, a story, while abstraction is devoid of everything except color and paint application. Thus, historical themes are closer to surrealism, while motifs from the animal and natural world are closer to abstraction.
