Josip Generalic -Born in village of Hlebine, Republic
of Croatia, on February 19, 1936. First oil paintings on canvas date
from 1950. His first public appearance took place in 1954 in the town of
Krizevci near Koprivnica, where he graduated at the Teachers’ Training
College.
In 1959 he displayed his artworks for the first time on a
one-man exhibition in City’s museum in Koprivnica. During his life,
Josip Generalic has displayed his artworks on more than 1.000 collective
exhibitions and 200 one-man exhibitions around the world. He was
regularly present in all representative exhibitions of the Croatian and
world’s naive art. The famous artist has been awarded by many
international juries. Generalic did a few scene paintings for Zagreb
theatres; he ilustrated childrens’ books and made about thirty
tapestries; one of them entitled the “Big Grape Harvest” is permanently
displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in Soitama, Japan. Josip’s oil on
glass and canvas paintings, his serigraphies and copper-plate etchings
can be found in many galeries and museums. For 15 years, he’s been
working intensively on copper etchings, using his own press. Generalic
has been acclaimed by the critics as the top artist in the field of
paintings and graphics and one of the gratest representatives of the
world famous “Hlebine school”.
Josip Generalic died in Koprivnica on 22nd Dec 2004 and was buried in Hlebine.
