Ivan Generalich was born in 2014 in Hlebine, Croatia in a rural family. He has been drawing since he was young, and it was his children’s drawings that were noticed by Krsto Hegedusic, a professor at the Academy of Arts. With his help, Ivan held his first exhibition in Zagreb, which was a remarkable success. Many presentations of his work all over the world followed. The big breakthrough on the world scene was in 1953 with a solo exhibition in Paris, thanks to which interest in the original work of self-taught artists skyrocketed worldwide. Generalich is considered to be the founder and the most notable representative of the Hlebin school of naïve art. His followers are three generations of artists who were guided by him until his death in 1992 near Hlebine. Works by Generalich are in all the world’s museums of naïveté and in many of the notable permanent exhibitions of fine art around the world.
