Jovan Soldatović

Jovan Soldatović (November 26, 1920 – October 7, 2005) was a Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor, internationally recognized for hundreds of sculptures and memorials. He was one of the most prominent modern Serbian sculptors, a leading artistic personality in contemporary Novi Sad and a member of the Prostor 8 art group from Belgrade.

Private life He was born on 26 November 1920 in Čerević. His family moved to Novi Sad in 1930, in the area of Little Liman, near the location of future Banovina Palace. He graduated from Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Gymnasium in Novi Sad in 1939. In 1940 he finished to Officer´s School in Maribor and starts his studies in the architecture department in the Technical Faculty of the University of Belgrade. With the start of World War II in Yugoslavia he would stop his studies in Belgrade and move back to Novi Sad. He participated in World War II as a member of Yugoslav partisans 7th Vinkovac regiment. In 1945 after the war he would marry Mila Mrazović. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1948. On 3 July 1948, his first son Srđan was born. On 18 March 1956, his second son Goran was born. Some time in his life he would divorce his wife and marry his second wife Mirjana. Both of his wives would tragically lose their lives in 1999 (Mirjana in June due to a car accident, Mila in August from natural causes). Originally the Statue of Confucius was intended for the Chinese Embassy located in New Belgrade, the gypsum version of the statue was left in storage due to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the bombing of the Chinese embassy. Currently the completed work is located in front of the where the original Chinese Embassy once stood.

Impression of Pesma o keruši/A Song About a Dog of Sergei Yesenin, gypsum, Art pavilion, Belgrade, 1951 A lyrical motif, wood, Art pavilion, Belgrade, 1951 Mati/Mother, gypsum, Art pavilion, Belgrade, 1951 Prva Ljubav/First Love, bronze, Belgrade, 1951 Sedeći sa pijacom, bronze, Novi Sad, 1953 Muzika/Music, bronze, Novi Sad, 1955 Košuta/Dow, bronze, Belgrade, 1955 Rode/Storks, bronze, World Exhibition, Brussels, Belgium, 1958 Jelen/Deer, gypsum, Tašmajdan Park, Belgrade, 1958 Dvoje, gypsum, Novi Sad, 1960 Dvoje, bronze, The Gallery of Fine Arts – Gift Collection of Rajko Mamuzić, Novi Sad, 1961 Lighthouse on the Danube, concrete and brick, Surduk, 1961 Čovek sa mrtvim detom/Man with a dead child, bronze, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan, 1961 (permanently display in 2003) Zlatna košuta/Golden Dow, gold, International Fashion Fair, Belgrade, 1961 Streljani rodoljubi/Shot patriots, bronze, "Crna Ćuprija" Memorial Park, Žabalj, 1962 Porodica/Family Monument to the Victims of the Fascism, bronze, Novi Sad at the Sunny Quay on the banks of the Danube river, 1962 (originally displayed in Tašmajdan Park in Belgrade in 1958) Jeleni u borbi/Deer Fighting, bronze, Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, 1965 Dvoje, in front of the Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, 1967 Jelen i tri košute/Male Deer and Three Does, bronze, Sremska Kamenica Igra/Play, bronze, Institute for Oncology of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica Doe and Fawn, bronze, Villa Mir, Belgrade Doe and Fawn, bronze, Zrenjanin Šest košuta/Six Does, Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina Monument to the Victims of Fascism, Čurug, 1970s Suđaje/Judges, bronze, Novi Sad, 1970 Most razmene/Bridge of Exchange, concrete and brick, Stejanovci, 1971 Statue of Branko Radičević, bronze, Sremski Karlovci, 1971 Štafeta mladosti/Relay of youth, bronze, 1971 Dođe li rat – odoše ljudi, bronze, Novi Sad, 1972 (temporarily displayed next to ruins of Varadin Bridge in 1999) Razigrani konji/Playful Horses, bronze, Novi Sad Fair, Novi Sad, 1972 Portrait of Miloš Crnjanski, gypsum, Novi Sad, 1972 Euripid-Sartr scenery statue, gypsum, National Theatre, Subotica, 1973 Monument to the Victims of Fascism, concrete and bricks, Titel, 1974 Bust of Sava Tekelija, bronze, in front of Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 1976 Bust of Dušan Vikasović, bronze, Sombor Bust of Žarko Zrenjanin, bronze, Sombor Bust of Veljko Dugošević, bronze, Sombor Two chamois, bronze, National Library, Sombor Bust of Vasilj Gaćeša, bronze, Apatin Bust of Stojan Matić, bronze, Apatin Bust of Anka Matić Grozda, bronze, Irig Bust of Ćira Milekić, bronze, Sremska Mitrovica "The Child and the Fawn", bronze, Zrenjanin Monument to the National Liberation Struggle, bronze and concrete, Ruma Monument to the National Liberation Struggle, bronze, Čurug on the banks of the Tisa river Monument to the National Liberation Struggle, brick and bronze, Neštin on the banks of the Danube Monument to the National Liberation Struggle, bronze and concrete, Pačir Monument to the National Liberation Struggle, bronze and concrete, Titel Monument to the Fighters of the National Liberation Struggle and the Victims of Fascism 1941 – 1945, concrete and bricks, Đurđevo Majka i Dete/Mother and a child bronze, Monument to the Victims of Fascism, Čurug Majka i Dete/Mother and a child, bronze, Banja Luka, Bosnia & Herzegovina Suđaje/Judges, bronze, Šumarice Memorial Park, Kragujevac, 1975 Bez Iluzija/A Man Without Illusions, bronze, Šumarice Memorial Park, Kragujevac, 1975 Composition, bronze, Šumarice Memorial Park, Kragujevac, 1979 Don Quixote, bronze, Tašmajdan Park, Belgrade, 1979 Ikebana na zgarištu/Ikebana at the fire pit, bronze, Novi Sad, 1980 Statue of Jovan Sterija Popović, bronze, Vršac, 1981 Statue of Đura Jakšić, bronze, in front of Đura Jakšić´s Home in Skadarlija, Belgrade, 1982 Statue of Đura Jakšić, bronze, Danube Park, Novi Sad, 1982 Jelen u trku/Deer in a race, bronze, bronze, Igman, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1984 The Kiss/Poljub, bronze, Park of Peace, Slovenj Gradec, Slovenia, 1984 Monument to the National Liberation Struggle, bronze and concrete, Žabalj, 1985 Ranjen jelen/Wounded deer, bronze, Negotin, 1985 Statues of humans and animals, gypsum, "Syrmian Front" Memorial Park, Šid, 1987 Bust of Vuk Karadžić, bronze, Novi Sad, 1987 Statue of Arsenije III Crnojević, bronze, Sremski Karlovci, 1990 (temporary display) Statue of Arsenije III Crnojević, bronze, Ibarski Kolašin, 1992 Rika jelena/Roar of a deer, bronze, Apatin, 1995 Statue of Kosta Trifković, Kosta Trifković primary school, Novi Sad, 2004 Statue of Milan Konjović, bronze, Gallery of Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 2017 (posthumously) Statue of Confucius, bronze, Chinese Cultural Center, Belgrade, 2017 (posthumously)

Prizes and awards Politika Award for Art, Ečka, 1958 2nd Place Award for his sculpture at the First NOB exhibition of Yugoslav artists, 1961 , Novi Sad, 1962 October Salon Award, Belgrade, 1970 Charter of the City of Novi Sad, 1981 July 7th Award, 1986 , 1986 Forum Award for Fine Arts, 1986 , 1999

Legacy In 1968, Soldatovic's sculpture Family would appear as the motif of a stamp issued by the Post Office of Yugoslavia on the occasion of the Year of Human Rights, which was indicated by the official sign of the jubilee. The postage stamp was worth 1.25 dinars and 500,000 copies were issued for the event. For years this workshop was mishandled by the city, leaving it in disrepair. Around June 2013, over 61 of the 100 statues done in gypsum, wax, copper and bronze were stolen from his workshop. Only 23 statues were able to be found while the 38 remaining sculptures were either destroyed or sold on the black market to private auctions, galleries and collections. This was not the first time his workshop was broken in, as it also happened in 1972, where 6 of his sculptures were destroyed. In December of that same year, for the 100th anniversary of Soldatović′s birth, Dr. Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski and Mr. Danilo Vuksanović wrote an article for Gallery of Matica Srpska, honoring the sculptor who has graced Matica Srpska with many of his works.

Gallery