HAKMAN Kosta

(Bosanska Krupa, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1899 – Opatija, Croatia, 1961)

He studied painting in Prague, Vienna and Krakow. He finished his studies at the Cracow Academy in 1924.

This Belgrade intimiste managed to discover the direction of his painting quite early, on his third year of studies he wrote: “There are no lines, no design, there are only contrasts… not black and white but done as a coloristic impression.” Going to Paris in 1926 was crucial for the construction of his expression: paintings are imbued with light, the move has become more refined, and cold tones are replaced by warm, pastel shades.

After 1930, he worked as a drawing teacher at the High School and at the architectural department of the Technical Faculty in Belgrade. He was a member of groups Dvanaestorica and Samostalni, and he exhibited with the group Oblik (1929, 1930). At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1937 he won the gold medal. From 1947 to 1959 he worked as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade.