MEMORIES FROM PARIS: THREE PILGRIMAGES OF SERBIAN ARTISTS IN THE 1930s.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to reveal  some of the not so well known aspects about studying in Paris of the Serbian painters Ljubomir Ivanović, Mihailo S. Petrov and Svetolik Lukić during the 1930s. A large number of painters travelled to Paris to learn about the contemporary trends in art, museums and galleries. Serbian/Yugoslav painters formed small colonies in Montparnase and Malakoffand, and they were actively involved in the bohemian art life.Those who could not afford to study or to live in Paris would go there for short “intensive” study trips that resembled pilgrimages. For a relatively short time they had to see all the wonders, visit the sites, absorb the atmosphere, history and culture of the French capital and to take home the impressions in their drawings and paintings. Ljubomir Ivanović, Mihailo S. Petrov and Svetolik Lukić among many faces of Paris chose to represent the identity of the city and their own identity.