Draft:Zivko Petrovic (Artist)

Živojin (Živko) Petrović (Serbian: Живојин (Живко) Петровић; Zemun, then Austrian Empire,1806 - Zemun, Austria-Hungary, 1868) was a Serbian painter.

Biography

Živojin's father was the famous Jovan Petrović Kovač, one of the first gunsmiths in the era of Karađorđe. The portrait of Jovan Petrović was created in 1837 by Konstantin Grigorijević Danil, one of the Serbian painters and friends of Živojin "Živko" Petrović. They often called him Živko Kovač after his father. Živojin had a brother Đorđe, who was the president of the appellate court in Belgrade.

Živojin Petrović studied painting in Vienna at the Academy of Fine Arts under the guidance of the famous painter Karl Rahl. After completing his education, he returned to Zemun where, apart from staying in Belgrade for a few years, he spent his entire life. He got married there in 1833 and in this marriage gave birth to several children, who died at an early age. The names of the two sons Jovan and Nikola are recorded.

Creativity

At the time of Živko's work, there were two other painters in Zemun, Dimitrije Bratoglic and Konstantin "Kosta" Lekić-Milenković (1802-1838), of whom Živko was the youngest. At that time, a lot of paintings were created in Zemun, which were mostly found and kept in the more famous Zemun houses.

Živko never made a name for himself as an extraordinarily great painter, and like many famous painters, he made commissioned paintings from which he made a living. By themselves, such pictures were not too demanding and were done in a patterned manner. Živko's paintings were like that, he did not try too hard to give the paintings something new and his own. His original works from the beginning were completely different, because in them one can see his skill, thoughts and tastes. Later, the market did not demand such elements and even copies could bring better profits than the originals, which benefited Živko. Živko always worked side-by-side with his mentor Konstantin Grigorijević Danil in his workshop, with whom he was close and who always sent him his works from Veliki Bečkerek to be copied. After Živko's death, the works from the workshop were scattered around Zemun and all of them were believed to be his, although it is quite certain that there were also works by other painters.

Živko was most skilled when doing portraits, his skill was most visible in them, and he was able to faithfully depict the state of mind of the person he was painting. He painted the image of Emperor Ferdinand and Emperor Franz Joseph, as well as the image of Marko Nikolić Jr., which was exhibited in the hall of the Serbian Church Municipality. Also, in this hall was his portrait of Saint Sava. His altarpiece, which was a copy of Titian's Assunta, was located in the Catholic church in Zemun. In 1898, during the renovation of the church, this painting was replaced by another and moved to the premises of the parish building. We know that in 1838 Živko also painted the church itself.

It is not known the exact number of paintings that Živko Petrović painted during his lifetime, but the period of his creation was certainly long, from 1833 until his death in 1868.[1] Živko did not introduce any new features into Serbian painting, but he certainly remained consistent with his calling and love for art and painting.

References

• Translated and adapted from Serbian Wikipedia: https://sr.m.wikipedia.org/sr/%D0%96%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%98%D0%B8%D0%BD_%D0%9F%D0%B5%D1%82%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%9B_(%D1%81%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D1%80)