| |
Zuzana
Chalupová (5 February 1925 – 1 August 2001) was a
Serbian naďve painter of Slovak ethnicity, who was born
and lived her whole life in the town of Kovačica,
Serbia. Her colourful naive-style paintings recall
children's works and fairy-tale illustrations. She
typically painted children, so she was called "Mama
Zuzana with a thousand children".
Chalupová finished only five grades of elementary
school. In the 1950s she began making scarves, shirts,
and tapestries with traditional motifs. After earning
some money from selling tapestries, she bought oil
paint and started painting on canvas. She painted her
first oil on canvas painting named Mlaćenje konoplja (Hemp
Beating) in 1964. She enjoyed imminent success. She
exhibited her paintings in the Museum of Naive Arts in Svetozarevo and
in Kovačica during the "Kovačički oktobar" festival. Her
first solo exhibition was in 1968 in Dubrovnik where all
of the paintings were bought by foreign collectors.
Though she never had children of her own, the most
frequent motif in Chalupová's paintings were children.
Even adults (some with moustaches) look like children in
her paintings. Her other frequent motifs are winter,
Kovačica church, and biblical themes.
Chalupová made many paintings for charity purposes. She
painted a monumental painting for the International
Committee of the Red Cross depicting children with the
members of the Red Cross. In 1978, she made a painting
named Zaštitimo spomenike kulture (Let's Protect the
Cultural Heritage!) for the Institute for the Protection
of Cultural Monuments of Serbia. The painting depicts Gračanica
monastery, statue of Pobednik, Serbian Orthodox priests
with children in Slovak traditional costumes and God
watching all this from the skies. In 1974, Chalupová
made a painting for the UNICEF headquarters
named Children of the UN, full of symbols: It depicts
the Earth, UNICEF headquarters, and the Statue of
Liberty surrounded by children and angels with olive
branches. The same year, her painting Zima (Winter) was
printed by UNICEF Christmas card program in two million
copies.
Many of her paintings are on permanent display in
Kovačica's Gallery of Naive Art. For her achievements, Matica
slovenská decorated Chalupová with the order of Cyril
and Methodius. |
