On Sunday, August 4th, as part of the Fishery Exhibition and Festival, an exhibition of paintings on the theme of the sea titled “Blue Salon” was opened. As an introduction to the contemporary marina, we first encounter our older marinists: Crnčić, Medović, Plančić, Job, Vidović, and Dobrović, followed by 18 contemporary painters with 36 oils, three lithographs, and one chalk drawing. These include Dogan, Gliha, Haller, Petričić, Lipovac, Makanec, Ivančić, Ružička, Murtić, Šimunović, Šulentić, Masle, Pintarić, Kalina, Petlevski, Šohaj, and Edo Kovačević. At first glance, the question arises: Where are the artists from Split—Kaštelančić, Parać, Knežević, and others… Where are the Belgraders… where are the locals, Kotlar and Morović? Even many from Zagreb, who were invited, did not respond.

Despite the obvious absence of some significant names and the cramped premises where 47 exhibits are packed, this exhibition is nonetheless interesting and pleasant. Primarily, there is the encounter with the old masters: the blurred, misty Vidović; Dobrović with his powerfully rendered “Scorpionfish”; Plančić, one of the best masters of the sea and fish incarnation; the unrestrained and color-rich Job (50 of whose canvases we will see in our gallery in a few days); and the solid old masters Crnčić and Medović. The latter, however, is poorly represented by his Dubrovnik, which found its place here more due to the author’s name than its own value.

We have well-known, renowned names here, as well as very young ones (the Montenegrin Lipovac and the Macedonian Petlevski) who are just starting out and seeking themselves through experimentation. We know Gliha for far better landscapes than “Island” and “From Baška.” Haller’s two oils with rich impasto represent studious work, especially the large canvas “View of Foša,” full of air and atmosphere, which is also the most valuable. Lipovac experiments, playing with geometry: an inverted trapezoid is a boat, a rectangle with a sphere is a fisherman, the harpoon and the moon’s ball are equally “Fisherman and the Moon.” A naivety that is not entirely unappealing. We immediately recognize Makanec and Šulentić in their canvases: firm composition, a balanced palette, and the clarity of calm strokes. Ivančić’s “Fish” and “Fish with Lemon” against dark backgrounds are certainly among the more valuable achievements of this exhibition. The sliced fish there is indeed a mercilessly killed fish, the matter of silver scales and flesh. Ružička’s Hemingway-esque “The Old Man and the Sea,” suggested by strong color, is more Mephisto than the famous Hemingway old man, while “Island Woman” in a garish yellow blouse, with her physiognomy, recalls Gauguin’s Tahitian women with the inevitable flower in their hair. The robust Edo Murtić, master of very successful posters for the Fishery Exhibition (net, harpoon, fish at the tip of the harpoon), is more interesting in his semi-abstract “Fishing” than in “Red Anchor and Fishing.” In the latter, he seems to have become a bit entangled in that net himself. Fran Šimunović’s old boats received an award. Simple motifs, similar, resolved in the same way, more graphic than painterly. There is a suggestive tragedy of an old, worn-out boat in that simplicity. Masle’s fish are coloristically very rich and successful, while Kalina’s “City on the Adriatic” and “Red Fish” are resolved flatly, with strong, careless strokes where the paint drips, betraying a certain superficiality. Šohaj’s “Marshal Tito’s Waterfront in Zadar” falls far behind the other two exhibited pieces in value. Three of Pintarić’s airy lithographs of transparent astral figures are appealing in their technique, while Edo Kovačević’s “Rovinj” and “Port” are not above his average.

All in all, an exhibition worthy of attention, which will find its many visitors among the people of Zadar.

The idea of organizing such an exhibition of marinas every year within the permanent Fishery Exhibition in Zadar should only be welcomed. Next year, we hope more authors will be represented, and it would certainly be necessary for it to take on an international character, as is the case with the artistic photography exhibition “Man and the Sea.” In my opinion, the year should be added to the name “Blue Salon” each time, for example, “Blue Salon 1957” or “Blue Salon 1958,” and so on.