Zuzana Chalupová

Zuzana Chalupová: Playing in the Snow. Oil on canvas, Gallery of Naive Art, Kovačica. Zuzana Chalupová (; 5 February 1925 – 1 August 2001) was a Serbian naïve painter of Slovak ethnicity, who was born and lived her whole life in the town of Kovačica, Serbia. Her colourful naive-style paintings recall children's works and fairy-tale illustrations. She typically painted children, so she was called "Mama Zuzana with a thousand children".

Biography Chalupová finished only five grades of elementary school. In the 1950s she began making scarves, shirts, and tapestries with traditional motifs. After earning some money from selling tapestries, she bought oil paint and started painting on canvas. She painted her first oil on canvas painting named Mlaćenje konoplja (Hemp Beating) in 1964.

Work and legacy Though she never had children of her own, the most frequent motif in Chalupová's paintings were children. Even adults (some with moustaches) look like children in her paintings. Her other frequent motifs are winter, Kovačica church, and biblical themes. Many of her paintings are on permanent display in Kovačica's Gallery of Naive Art. For her achievements, Matica slovenská decorated Chalupová with the order of Cyril and Methodius.