Mića Popović

Miodrag "Mića" Popović (12 June 1923 – 22 December 1996) was a Serbian painter, experimental filmmaker and one of the major figures of the Yugoslav Black Wave.

Life and work Popović was born on 12 June 1923 in Loznica. He finished grammar school in Belgrade. As a painter, Popović is best known for his informel period (1958–1968) and his "Scenes Painting" (slikarstvo prizora) (from 1968). Among the Scenes Paintings, one of the more notable ones was "May 1, 1985," which memorialized events surrounding an alleged attack on a farmer in Kosovo named Đorđe Martinović.

He also made several films in the 1960s, two of which ("Čovek iz hrastove šume" and "Delije") were banned by the government for their antisocialist content.

Mića Popović was elected a regular member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1986. The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts marked the centenary of his birth with the exhibition titled ‘Mića Popović – The Art of Permanent Rebellion’, held at the SASA Gallery, September 5 - November 5, 2023.

Cultural event Mićini i Verini dani (Mića and Vera's Days) was established in Loznica on June 12, 2001 and has been held annually since then.

Written works Sudari i harmonije (1954) U ateljeu pred noć (1962) Ishodište slike (1983) Velika ljubav Anice Huber (1999) Putopisni dnevnici (2006)

Films The Man from the Oak Forest (1964) The Swarm (1966) Hasanaginica (1967) The Tough Ones (1968) Burduš (1970)

Paintings

A significant collection of his painting is exhibited in Mića Popović and Vera Božičković-Popović Gallery, located in the artist's hometown of Loznica. The gallery artworks span over five decades of his work, starting with Great-great-grandfather’s House in Loznica (1936), when Mića was only thirteen years old. Other representative works include Citizens (1949) and Gvozden's Graph (1970), all the way to Great Still Life (1989).