Sava Šumanović

Sava Šumanović (; 22 January 1896 – 30 August 1942) was a Serbian painter. He is considered to be one of the most important Serbian painters of the 20th century. Šumanović's opus includes around 800 paintings as well as 400 drawings and sketches. He was executed during the mass genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia. Ustaše tortured him and threw him half alive into a lime pit.

Biography

Sava Šumanović was born in Vinkovci, Austria-Hungary (now in Croatia) in 1896, the only child of mother Persida Šumanović (née Tubić) and father Milutin Šumanović, who worked as an engineer. When Šumanović was four years old his family moved to Šid (modern-day Serbia). where he was first introduced to the art of painting and the work of artists like Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne. He later enrolled in the College of Crafts and Arts in Zagreb and soon after he lived in Paris for several years, since 1920. His professor in Paris was André Lhote. Šumanović befriended Amedeo Modigliani, Max Jacob and various Paris-based Serbian artists and writers such as Rastko Petrović.

In 1924 Šumanović wrote two notable essays: Slikar o slikarstvu and Zašto volim Pusenovo slikarstvo.

Living for a couple of years in Croatia, Šumanović returned to Paris in late 1925, eventually settled there in 1930. His major exhibition was at the Belgrade New University in 1939, where he exhibited roughly 410 paintings, mostly from the Šid period.

Style His early artistic style was characterized by various influences, mainly Cubism

Legacy President of Yugoslavia Josip Broz Tito in the Sava Šumanović Gallery in Šid. A museum dedicated to his life and work is located in Šid.

He is included in The 100 most prominent Serbs list.

Selected works