Катарина Ивановић (1811-1882)

Abstract

У историји српске уметности и културе XIX века особену појаву представљауметница Катарина Ивановић. Она спада међу прве жене које сусе афирмисале у српској културној јавности захваљујући свом професионалномраду. Катарина Ивановић је прва српска школована сликарка,која се уметношћу бавила до краја живота и прва жена члан Српског ученогдруштва. Изабрана је 1876.Катарина Ивановић заузела је истакнуто место у историографији осрпској уметности. Захваљујући Теодору Павловићу познате су ране годинењеног живота, а њен сликарски рад праћен је још од студентскихдана [3: 386].1 О њој је писано у бројним научним студијама и прегледимајугословенске и српске уметности. Сликарски опус Катарине Ивановићмонографски је приказан у више наврата, а посебна пажња је посвећиванаразличитим аспектима њеног опуса, од иконографског до родног.2 Упркосизузетном значају и чињеници да се о њој пише још од средине XIX века,живот и дело Катарине Ивановић остали су у великој мери непознаницадо данас, па су понајвише изостала контекстуална тумачења њених сликарскихрадова.

Katarina Ivanović was born on 15 April 1811 in Veszprém (today North West Hungary)to a middle-class family, to father Lazar and mother Marija. The family moved toSzékesfehérvár, where she started receiving her first formal art training, which she latercontinued in Pest and Vienna, where she enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts. She livedand studied in Munich (1844 and 1855). For years she was up to date on all new developmentsin European art, she travelled a lot and studied the latest achievements in paintingat the time by visiting art galleries and churches, and she had close ties with the Serbiancultural elite gathered around Vuk Karadžić.In the history of Serbia’s 19th century culture, Katarina Ivanović represents a uniquephenomenon. With her artistic lifestyle and paintings, she embodied the pioneering phenomenonof the Serbian bourgeois art. Katarina Ivanović was the first Serbian artist who,thanks to the 1837 display of her self-portrait, gained recognition from Viennese art critics.At the same time, owing to her self-portrait, she became the first artist to be publiclycelebrated in Serbia and therefore her artworks were reproduced and popularized inthe press – Serbski narodni list. For nearly four decades, Katarina Ivanović participatedin the artistic life of the Habsburg Monarchy, Vienna and Pest, and was the first Serbianartist whose works were on display at the greatest cultural events of the 19th century. Sheexhibited her artworks at world exhibitions held in Paris and Vienna in 1873.By producing complex artworks which examined patriotic and historical themes,Katarina Ivanović made a great impact on the thematic repertoire of Serbian art. SrbskiOmir became an iconographic basis for the portrayal of the Serbs gathered around gusleplayers, which was one of the most important national themes in 19th-century Serbianart. Her distinctive selection of historical compositions from Serbian and Hungarian history,with an emphasis on the role of a woman, constitutes a unique synthesis of differentidentity layers – Serbian national identity, gender identity, but also her territorialidentity – Hungarian. Some compositions such as The Liberation of Belgrade belong tothe most complex artworks created at the time. Her painting Self-portrait in the Studio,which she painted in her later years, was her manifesto, which testified to her artisticpersonality and her achievements.Having gained recognition from her contemporaries at an early age, KatarinaIvanović was held in very high esteem in the Principality of Serbia. She was admitted tothe Serbian Learned Society in 1876, as the first woman ever to become its fellow. Heradmission to the Society was closely associated with her patriotic decision to donatesome selected pieces of her paintings to the National Museum in Belgrade. In that way,she enriched Serbian culture forever.She passed away on 12 September 1882 in Székesfehérvár, to which she remaineddevoted all her life. Her last will and testament testifies to her close ties with her family,friends and Serbian community.