Motherland 2000, 175x125, 2 parts oil on canvas (Photography by Krunoslav Rac)

Djakovo is a small town in Croatia known for its history which dates from ancient times, very strong tradition, love for art of all kinds. Since the bishop Strossmayer's time there very people who cared about art in this town, organized exhibitions, opened galeries, some people even trried to do some of the works themselves, but Djakovo always missed educated, academic painter.
But times has changed. Nowadays, there is a young man, Hrvoje Duvnjak, who lives and works in his native town. He was born in Djakovo on 20th of September 1977. he finished his primary and secondary school in his birthplace, and he studied in Zagreb at The Academy of Art as a student of famous Croatian painter Zlatko Kauzlarić – Atač. He graduated at the Academy in June 2002 with his work «The Interiors». His paintings are modern ones with a certain amount of figurative forms which makes his works close to all people, ven to those who are not experts in painting.
As a young boy he spent a lot of time in the village Tomašanci some 10 km from Djakovo with his grand parents and uncles. He watched them work in the fields, and that period of time certainly left a strong trace on his talent. One of his works The Mother Land was inspired by the hard work during the harvest, when his mother's family were on the fields from early morning till late in the evening gathering the crops. He noticed the tired and exhausted people sweating on the sun, working restlessly and praying God not to let a storm to come and destroy their whole year's work. He also presented the land after the harvest in all her dignity, when everithing is still and peacefull. The land seems to be satisfied like a woman who gave a birth to a child, exhausted but happy because she gave life onca again, and now is having a rest preparing to give a new birth over and over again. She gave her children bread for the incoming winter and she felt proud for that.
The picture is a part of a his uncle's private collection in Tomašanci.

(Contact with the author is possible by e-mail zhrzenja@inet.hr )

Zlata Hrženjak, prof