Those who expected stylistic uniformity or a monotonous visual choral recitation at the first exhibition of the Martovci were just as disappointed as those who expected the seventeen from “Mart” to change their visual physiognomy overnight and thus “surprise” the public. In that sense, there are no surprises at this exhibition. We recognize each author precisely; every exhibitor has remained firmly on the ground of their own problematic, and since the seventeen are not bound by any common, dogmatic views, we find no concessions at the expense of a group program in any exhibitor.

What do the Martovci actually have to tell us? Primarily that on this path towards the visual synthesis of our time, certain milestones have been passed here as well; that the appearance of non-figuration does not have to be linked to any fashion or snobbery; but also that figuration is no longer figuration in the sense of an anecdote, and that the conflict between figurative and non-figurative is often artificially posed and unnecessarily isolated. Are not the formulas of contemporary visual expression, tolerance, and the coexistence of the figurative and non-figurative loose enough to connect these seventeen with such different visual concepts? In this first, dynamic surge, it seems they are not, because our visual situation is still restless and unsettled, and at this moment the question of connecting all efforts to give the contemporary visual concept full civic rights is truly being posed. But even in these conditions, a certain lack of cohesion is felt in the group, which would connect these seventeen, who already found themselves at a crossroads at the first group exhibition, over a longer period. But that eventual regrouping is not so vital at this moment that the real working program of the group should be neglected. And in that sense, their joint efforts should be evaluated.

For the last few years, Boris Dogan has insisted on Klee-esque positions. But at this exhibition, we already encounter canvases that deviate from his previous practice and into which the author has transferred that part of the Klee-esque heritage relating to the poetization of the painterly material.

Krsto Hegedušić exhibited the polemical “Evil People,” which were once proscribed in Erlangen. A poignant document. The second canvas, “Wednesday,” differs in its procedure from “Evil People”; a pure surface connects with each other very refinedly with graphisms. The poetization of the theme, the introduction of “surrealist” elements, the tendency towards purifying the palette and the planar resolution of the surface remain the main features of Hegedušić’s painting in recent years. In that direction, “Wednesday” represents a work of anthological character.

Željko Hegedušić exhibited several graphics of extraordinary purity. The dynamic horizontal composition in “Rive Gauche” and “Games” reveals a graphic artist of rare penetration and clear individuality.

IVO KALINA, as expected, has shifted to an abstract position. It is still difficult to determine the ultimate reach of this non-figurative phase, but certainly closer to us are the two firm and constructive still lifes from 1956 that the author exhibited at this exhibition. Nevertheless, despite the schematic nature of the design and the static nature of the form, “Composition in Pink” acts suggestively.

ALBERT KINERT, reducing the fable ever more concretely, is today concentrated exclusively on the poetization of the pictorial material. His continuous development necessarily had to lead him to “Blue-Gray Biography” and “Eyes of Heaven,” works of unusual refinement, bright in invention and convincing in their poetic power.

EDO KOVAČEVIĆ is represented by several unpretentious travel notes from Venice. “Traghetto at Night” stands quite firmly on the line of his recent extraordinary still lifes, unambiguously accentuating the problems that have recently occupied this sensitive painter.

FERDINAND KULMER, at the very beginning of his abstract phase, has not engaged us emotionally to the same extent as before. Aggressive sharp forms, repeated in several planes, with certain, probably intentional crudities in color, leave the impression of a cabinet procedure. As a result, the extraordinary “Brown Painting” stands out for its refinement.

VASKO LIPOVAC already at the very beginning presented himself as an author with a strong personality. His poetic “figures” in pure and abandoned spaces have lost their direct connection with the anecdote, and he is only one step away from non-figuration.

The dynamic and penetrating EDO MURTIĆ is represented by several canvases of an earlier date, which are still subject to the classical composition of connecting the entire space. This year’s canvases are significantly freer in composition (“White Background”) and more lavish in palette (“Root”).

Šime Perić presented himself with a fairly homogeneous cycle. His compositions with a Tachist background are connected in the central part by a graphic stroke. Among the non-figurative artists, Perić appears as an author of an increasingly defined physiognomy.

Ordan Petlevski is located between the rich and warm Braque-esque palette (Still Life) and Klee-esque poetization (“Villages in Macedonia”). This young painter, along with Lipovac, stands out increasingly clearly in our youngest generation of painters.

Zlatko Prica exhibited a series of canvases from his Samobor cycle. Stylistically clear and consistent, bold and surprising in composition, Prica is increasingly sensitizing his palette (“Still Life” and “Apples on a Black Table”). Today, the further path of Zlatko Prica, one of the most personal painters of our post-war decade, can be seen with considerable clarity.

The approach of Nikela Reizer to Tachism, which has been increasingly evident recently, was achieved in “Blue Composition.” Reizer has definitively “torn” his composition and sentimental ties with figuration. In doing so, he has completely liberated his rich palette.

Jakov Smokvina presented himself unpretentiously with two smaller oils, which with their discreet chromatics and unobtrusive composition act as a pleasant surprise.

Vilim Svečnjak exhibited one Fauvist oil (“Petrica”) and several graphics, among which the refined “Graphic III” stands out. Svečnjak’s graphics act suggestively with their liberated line, and in them, we always find the human foundation from which they grew.

Ivan Svertasek is quite stylistically homogeneous. As a young author, he is perhaps too closed in the narrow world of his poetic vision. His graphic sheets are not without individuality, but they perhaps lack that elan so characteristic of the other young authors at this exhibition.

And finally, Kamilo Tompa, who perhaps never before was so refined. His inks—watercolors, in which the connection with tradition and the proximity of the stage is felt, could truly be called visually formed lyrical poems. Rarely has this author been closer to us.

J. DEPOLO

Vjesnik, 1957.