Montenegrin and Croatian painter, sculptor, art critic and philosopher
Dimitrije Popović (
Serbian Cyrillic: Димитрије Поповић; born 4 March 1951) is an eminent
Montenegrin and
Croatian painter, sculptor, art critic and philosopher born in
Cetinje,
Montenegro. He attended elementary and high school in his hometown and graduated from the
Academy of Fine Arts in
Zagreb in 1976 in the class of professor Šime Perić.
Popović's works (drawings, prints, paintings, and sculptures) evolved thematically and technically through different phases, mostly inspired by
Leonardo's drawings,
surrealism,
Ivan Meštrović's sculptures etc.
The artist lives and works in
Croatia, but he made first public appearance in Cetinje in 1969 at the Art Salon of Youth. During the 1970s he exhibited in
Podgorica,
Bari (
Italy),
Dubrovnik and Zagreb.
The Liberty Gallery and Universal Fine Arts of
Washington prepared in 1982 a combined exhibition of prints and other graphic works of
Dalí and Popović in
Pforzheim. During the celebration of the 400th anniversary of
Leonardo da Vinci (1982), Dimitrije Popović exhibited in
Palazzo Sormani in
Milan a cycle of drawings entitled “Omaggio a Leonardo”. His crucifixions entitled "Corpus mysticum" were exhibited in
Rome in Sant Andrea al
Quirinale, Santa Maria del Popolo, and the
Pantheon on the occasion of the celebration of two thousand years of
Christianity.
Croatianart critic Tonko Maroević wrote: “Popović’s achievement in his interpretation of the
Biblical motif is first and foremost to be found in the universality of meaning, the transfer of temporally and spatially limited event into the general idiom of visual signs of the body. Of course, the meaning achieved is not restricted to the basic but rich in forebodings and motives, all leading into the disturbing sphere of the erotic” (From the preface to the art monograph "Dimtrije Popović –
Judita, crteži", author: Tonko Maroević, published in
Zagreb in 1986 by Grafički zavod
Zagreb and Umjetnički muzej
Cetinje).
Dimitrije Popović had about 60 solo exhibitions and participated in over 150 group exhibitions and art manifestations of other kind.
Belgrade: Muzej savremene umetnosti (Museum of the Contemporary Art); Narodni muzej (National Museum); Univerzitetska biblioteka Svetozar Marković (
Belgrade University Library)
Zagreb: Zbirka nacionalne biblioteke (Collection of the National Library); Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti (Croatian Academy of Arts and Sciences); Metropolitana
Josip Depolo – Tonko Maroević – Veselko Tenžera, Dimitrije, edition: Mladi umjetnici (Young Artists), Nacionalna i sveučilišna biblioteka,
Zagreb 1980, page 140.
O.P (Olga Perović), Crna Gora, Likovna enciklopedija jugoslavije (Yugoslav Encyclopedia of Visual Arts),
JLZ,
Zagreb 1984, page 135, 235.
Tonko Maroević, Dante i slavenski svijet / Dante e il mondo slavo, Hrvatska akademija znanosti i umjetnosti,
Zagreb 1984.
Božo Biškupić – Ivan Lacković Croata, Crteži, Nacionalna i sveučilišna biblioteka, GZH, Zagreb 1985.
Mario Penelope – Sergio Guarino – Elsa de Giorgi, Corpus Mysticum, Biblioteca Segni, vol. XIII,
Rome 1985.
Tonko Maroević, Dimitrije – Judita, Grafički zavod Hrvatske – Umjetnički muzej
Cetinje,
Zagreb 1986.
Igor Zidić, Likovna enciklopedija Jugoslavije (
Yugoslav Encyclopedia of Visual Arts), vol. II,
Zagreb 1986.
Momo Kapor – Josip Depolo, Dimitrije, Književne novine,
Beograd 1987.
Grgo Gamulin, Na Itaci svijet otajni, Društvo povjesničara umjetnosti, vol. VI,
Zagreb 1990.
Božo Biškupić, Dimitrije – skulptura, Belus,
Zagreb, 1994.
Tonko Maroević – Goran Blagus, Dimitrije, 25 godina nadrealizma, Galerija Studio D,
Zagreb 1995.
Milan Marović, Dimitrije nepoznato-poznati, catalogue, Galerija Most,
Podgorica 1998.