Edo Murtić
EDO MURTIĆ (1921–2005) began painting very early and enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, but soon after transferred to the Belgrade Academy under the tutelage of Peter Dobrović. Unfortunately, the Second World War cut off his schooling. After the war he continued to paint, but he also worked in theater scenography, decorating public spaces, making murals and mosaics. Although he never graduated, he traveled to France and Italy to continue informing his art practice and follow contemporary art trends. During his stay in America in 1951 he was introduced to the work of Jackson Pollock which left a strong impression on him. Murtić gradually moved from creating post-expressionist figures to lyrical abstraction and eventually became one of the most prominent colorists.
He had over 150 solo and 300 group exhibitions on all continents, and his work is in the most prominent public and private collections – from the Tate Gallery in London to the collections Peggy Guggenheim and David Rockefeller. He represented Yugoslavia in three Venice Biennales (1958, 1964 and 1972), and in 1997 he became a member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.