Mijo Kovacic

Dream and Reality of the Podravina

Ed. Thomastik-Infeld GmbH, Vienna
1st edition, 1999, monograph
279 pages, numerous illustrations
Size: 33.5 x 24.5 cm, hardcover
German/English/Croatian EUR 35 (incl. VAT)

Mijo Kovacic is considered the best living naive painter from Croatia. Already in the first encounters with Mijo Kovacic did Peter Infeld realize he was a dramatic chronicler of a tragic century ready to transition to the third millennium.

This monograph - tribute to the great painter Mijo Kovacic - on the part of its collector Peter Infeld, is to be regarded as a gift and tribute to the best naïve painter of Croatia. Already in the first encounters with Mijo Kovacic did Peter Infeld realize he was a dramatic chronicler of a tragic century ready to transition to the third millennium.

With his very own intuition, Mijo Kovacic leads us through the circles of Dante's Inferno of our civilization. Protected by the wisdom and experience of a painter who has remained faithful to his country Croatia and its original postulates, he is an advocate of humanitarianism in the historical process of the 20th century. His paintings explore the notion that being human is equally imbued with something sublime as well as something painful and humiliating in those moments of human suffering and betrayal of the basic principles of beauty and goodness.
Originating from the best tradition of figurative representation, paintings by Mijo Kovacic preserve their persuasiveness and "readability" due to their perfection.