POPOVIĆ Atanasije

(Trebinje, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1885 – Dubrovnik, Croatia, 1948)

He studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna (1911 – 1914) under the mentorship of professor J. Jungwirth.

As a young man, Popović worked on icons and small iconostasis in rural churches in Herzegovina, where he met somewhat older painter Marko Gregović. Gregović helped him develop his painting skills and instructed him to study painting in Vienna. Popović traveled there as a scholar of cultural and educational society “Prosvjeta” from Sarajevo, in 1910.

Bearing in mind Popović’s classical education, it is clear why his works reflect the academic spirit and discipline, and not the other artistic flows present at the time. He exhibited for the first time in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1917, presenting himself with portraits in conventional color palette, visible in the painting “From the studio” (1918). Artist’s studio is presented in a very descriptive manor. However, although the portraits remain consistent to academicism, motives of space (open and closed), inspire him to liberate from the academic discipline, which gradually led him to impressionism.

Despite the fact that he lived in Dubrovnik since 1920, Popović remained connected to Bosnia and Herzegovina through motives of Jajce, Trebinje and Drvar.