Jovan Soldatović (November 26, 1920 – October 7, 2005) was a Serbian and Yugoslav sculptor, internationally recognized for hundreds of sculptures and memorials. He was one of the most prominent modern Serbian sculptors, a leading artistic personality in contemporary Novi Sad and a member of the Prostor 8 art group from Belgrade.
Private life He was born on 26 November 1920 in Čerević. His family moved to Novi Sad in 1930, in the area of Little Liman, near the location of future Banovina Palace. He graduated from Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Gymnasium in Novi Sad in 1939. In 1940 he finished to Officer´s School in Maribor and starts his studies in the architecture department in the Technical Faculty of the University of Belgrade. With the start of World War II in Yugoslavia he would stop his studies in Belgrade and move back to Novi Sad. He participated in World War II as a member of Yugoslav partisans 7th Vinkovac regiment. In 1945 after the war he would marry Mila Mrazović. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1948. On 3 July 1948, his first son Srđan was born. On 18 March 1956, his second son Goran was born. Some time in his life he would divorce his wife and marry his second wife Mirjana. Both of his wives would tragically lose their lives in 1999 (Mirjana in June due to a car accident, Mila in August from natural causes).
Soldatović died on 7 October 2005 in Novi Sad and was buried at a cemetery in Čerević.
Career On 9 November 1949, he would start working at Toma Rosandić workshop in Belgrade along with Ana Bešlić, Olga Jančić, Sava Sandić, Ante Gržetić and Ratimir Stojadinović.
He would work in Toma Rosadnić workshop there until 1953, where he would move back to Novi Sad. There he would become the first professor of sculpture at the painting department of the Teacher Training School. At the same time, he is leading the initiative to establish an art studio at the Petrovaradin Fortress and is among the first to establish his studio space in the so-called building Duga kasarna (Long barracks). Soldatovic will work in the studio for more than half a century, until his death in 2005. Around the same year he would become a member of the Udruženja likovnih umetnika Srbije ULUS and then a member of the Udruženja likovnih umetnika Vojvodine ULUV.
First exhibited in 1949. He had several solo exhibitions in Belgrade (1952) and Novi Sad (1958, 1968, 1999, 2002). He participated in a number of joint exhibitions by The Applied Artists and Designers Association of Serbia, the Association of Art Artists of Vojvodina, Prostor 8 in Belgrade (1954), the Mediterranean Biennale in Alexandria (1955), World Exhibition in Brussels (1958), the Fifth International Biennale of Sculpture at the Open in Middelheim in a park near Antwerp (1958), First NOB exhibition of Yugoslav artists in Belgrade (1961), Second International Exchibition of Sculptures in Musée Rodin of Paris (1961), Second NOB exhibition of Yugoslav artists in Belgrade (1966), the October Salon in Belgrade (1970), Third NOB exhibition of Yugoslav artists in Belgrade (1971) the Salon in Rijeka, the Triennale in Belgrade, and several representative contemporary exhibitions such as those in Sremski Karlovci, Kovilj, Sombor, Zagreb, Kikinda, Petrovaradin, Slavonski Brod and Negotin.
He was a member of the "Prostor 8" (Space 8) art group. In the period of 1957 and 1958, Soldatovic was the main promoter of a sculpture exhibition in the free space of Group 8, at Tašmajdan Park in Belgrade and at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad. Since then, sculptures of Soldatović, Aleksandar Zarin, Ana Bešlić and Ratimir Stojadinovic have been permanently placed at the fortress. The exhibition is the beginning of Soldatovic's obsessive idea to turn the plateau at the Petrovaradin Fortress into a place to exhibit sculptures.
In 1968, Soldatović set up a monumental exhibition of his sculptures at the Petrovaradin Fortress. The exhibition was dedicated to the Year of Human Rights and was held under the auspices of UNESCO. On that occasion, Soldatović established a correspondence with U Thant, the then Secretary-General of the United Nations. More than 50,000 visitors attended the event, including the Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.
In 1972, he works on establishing and organizing the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad, which emerged from the Training School. There he would become an associate professor of the arts in 1975. In the 1981 re-election Academy of Arts, he was nominated for a permanent professor position. Because of his relationship with the collective, he was not accepted even as an associate professor. He would then accept a national pension.
In 1985, Soldatović would move to his new and final workshop at the Petrovaradin Fortress, behind the Academy of Arts.
In 1994, Soldatović was nominated for academic membership at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. The reasoning was written by Milan Konjović since November of 1990, but was not accepted. Two sculptors, Svetomir Basara and Nikola Janković were admitted to SANU on 13 October 1994 instead.
During the NATO bombing of Novi Sad in the period of 24 March to 10 June 1999, Soldatović would regularly work in his workshop. Even after the bombing and the destruction of all three bridges across the Danube, he would travel to his workshop ether by ferry or by boat. He would open up an exhibition at the ruins of the Varadin Bridge on 14 April, at the height of the intensive bombing of Novi Sad and Yugoslavia. The exhibition opened in front of the Novi Sad Club by Dr Aleksandar Lučić.
In 2001, on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Jovan Soldatović, a formal reception was held at the Assembly of Vojvodina by the then president Nenad Čanak.
In 2002, on the 50th anniversary of his first independent art exhibition, Soldatović would again exhibit at the , also displaying some of his new works.
In 2003, thanks to the engagement of Gallery BEL ART and the gallerist Nabuko Akikawa from Japan, the sculpture of Čovek sa mrtvim detom (Man with a dead child), sculpted in 1961, became a permanent fixture of the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art. The handover took place at the Gallery BEL ART at the exhibition dedicated to this sculpture and was then taken over by Japanese representatives. On that occasion, Japan's ambassador to Belgrade, Ryūichi Tanabe, hosted a special reception for Jovan Soldatović at his Belgrade residence. The same year, the Gallery of Vojvodina Bank in Novi Sad held a representative exhibition of three great Vojvodina artists: Milan Konjović, Jovan Soldatović and Boško Petrović.
In 2005, at the Aspekti grand exhibition of contemporary sculpture in Vojvodina (held between August and September), a separate exhibition, Homagge a Jovan Soldatović was set up in honor of Soldatović by the art critic Sava Stepanov. This would be the last exhibition of Jovan Soldatović during his lifetime, which he was unable to attend the opening of due to his illness.
Works
He's the author of numerous sculptures and monuments between 1946 and 2005. Works by him appear in numerous museums and private collections. Soldatović also created around hundred of sculptures erected in public spaces. Most of his work was done in bronze. He also worked with gold, copper, wood, wax, gypsum, concrete and bricks. Most of his works had an anti-war and humanitarian theme, with others depicting the natural world through animals such as deer, storks, cranes and horses. He would often recreate his sculptures in different sizes and materials.
In 1961, at the International Fashion Fair in Belgrade, the Zlatna košuta (Golden Dow) award was established. The award is a sculpture of a dow, originally sculpted by Soldatović in 1955, quickly became one of his most popular works.
His most recognized works were done in 1962. The Streljani rodoljubi (Shot patriots) statues in Crna Ćuprija Memorial Park near Žabalj were done to commemorate the fallen soldiers of the Šajkaš Partizan regiment. The Porodica (Family) statue was placed between the Sunny Quay and Belgrade Quay in Novi Sad, overlooking the Danube and the Petrovaradin Fortress. It was done to commemorate the Victims of the Novi Sad raid of 1942.
In 1971, Soldatović would design and create the Štafeta mladosti (Relay of youth) for Yugoslav Youth Day. That year the relay would start its journey from Vojvodina, from Iriški Venac and was given to Josip Broz Tito for his 80th birthday.
In 1999, after the NATO bombing of Varadin Bridge, Soldatović would set up an exhibition composed from the installation Dođe li rat – odoše ljudi (1972) at the ruins of the bridge.
The last Soldatović work to be finished and placed in a public space posthumously were the Statue of Milan Konjović on 1 June 2017 and the on 17 June 2017. The Statue of Milan Konjović was placed in front of the Gallery of Matica Srpska for its reopening after extensive restoration period. Originally the Statue of Confucius was intended for the Chinese Embassy located in New Belgrade, the gypsum version of the statue was left in storage due to the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia and the bombing of the Chinese embassy. Currently the completed work is located in front of the where the original Chinese Embassy once stood.
Impression of Pesma o keruši/A Song About a Dog of Sergei Yesenin, gypsum, Art pavilion, Belgrade, 1951 A lyrical motif, wood, Art pavilion, Belgrade, 1951 Mati/Mother, gypsum, Art pavilion, Belgrade, 1951 Prva Ljubav/First Love, bronze, Belgrade, 1951 Sedeći sa pijacom, bronze, Novi Sad, 1953 Muzika/Music, bronze, Novi Sad, 1955 Košuta/Dow, bronze, Belgrade, 1955 Rode/Storks, bronze, World Exhibition, Brussels, Belgium, 1958 Jelen/Deer, gypsum, Tašmajdan Park, Belgrade, 1958 Dvoje, gypsum, Novi Sad, 1960 Dvoje, bronze, The Gallery of Fine Arts – Gift Collection of Rajko Mamuzić, Novi Sad, 1961 Lighthouse on the Danube, concrete and brick, Surduk, 1961 Čovek sa mrtvim detom/Man with a dead child, bronze, Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Hiroshima, Japan, 1961 (permanently display in 2003) Zlatna košuta/Golden Dow, gold, International Fashion Fair, Belgrade, 1961 Streljani rodoljubi/Shot patriots, bronze, "Crna Ćuprija" Memorial Park, Žabalj, 1962 Porodica/Family Monument to the Victims of the Fascism, bronze, Novi Sad at the Sunny Quay on the banks of the Danube river, 1962 (originally displayed in Tašmajdan Park in Belgrade in 1958) Jeleni u borbi/Deer Fighting, bronze, Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, 1965 Dvoje, in front of the Headquarters of the United Nations, New York, 1967 Jelen i tri košute/Male Deer and Three Does, bronze, Sremska Kamenica Igra/Play, bronze, Institute for Oncology of Vojvodina, Sremska Kamenica Doe and Fawn, bronze, Villa Mir, Belgrade Doe and Fawn, bronze, Zrenjanin Šest košuta/Six Does, Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina Monument to the Victims of Fascism, Čurug, 1970s Suđaje/Judges, bronze, Novi Sad, 1970 Most razmene/Bridge of Exchange, concrete and brick, Stejanovci, 1971 Statue of Branko Radičević, bronze, Sremski Karlovci, 1971 Štafeta mladosti/Relay of youth, bronze, 1971 Dođe li rat – odoše ljudi, bronze, Novi Sad, 1972 (temporarily displayed next to ruins of Varadin Bridge in 1999) Razigrani konji/Playful Horses, bronze, Novi Sad Fair, Novi Sad, 1972 Portrait of Miloš Crnjanski, gypsum, Novi Sad, 1972 Euripid-Sartr scenery statue, gypsum, National Theatre, Subotica, 1973 Monument to the Victims of Fascism, concrete and bricks, Titel, 1974 Bust of Sava Tekelija, bronze, in front of Matica Srpska, Novi Sad, 1976 Bust of Dušan Vikasović, bronze, Sombor Bust of Žarko Zrenjanin, bronze, Sombor Bust of Veljko Dugošević, bronze, Sombor Two chamois, bronze, National Library, Sombor Bust of Vasilj Gaćeša, bronze, Apatin Bust of Stojan Matić, bronze, Apatin Bust of Anka Matić Grozda, bronze, Irig Bust of Ćira Milekić, bronze, Sremska Mitrovica "The Child and the Fawn", bronze, Zrenjanin