Artists’ Studios
The exhibition Artists’ Studios: A View from the Photographic Archive of the Institute for Spanish Cultural Heritage opened on June 13 at the Gallery of Matica Srpska, and visitors can view it until Sunday, August 31.
The exhibition, offering an authentic and intimate glimpse into artists’ creative spaces, is the result of collaboration between the Gallery of Matica Srpska and the Institute for Spanish Cultural Heritage. Through carefully selected photographs, visitors will have the opportunity to step into the world of artists’ studios—places where art is born daily, where inspiration and routine coexist in a visually striking environment.
Parts of an artist’s personality are woven into their creations, while the rest is preserved within the walls of their studio. But what secrets have these artists’ fortresses held? What was the enchanted circle of influence between the artist and their space, the space and the artist, and their works? Thanks to the medium that faithfully captures moments and figures for eternity—photography—and the archive of the Institute for Spanish Cultural Heritage, the public will be able to peek into the intimate spaces of Spanish artists’ studios.
By observing the exhibited photographs, the audience will enter the artists’ world in a discreet yet powerful way. The images depict spaces of varying dimensions and atmospheres—from modest, makeshift workshops to bright studios filled with colors, paintings, and personal objects. The photographs reveal cultural differences but also the universality of the artistic calling—dedication, exploration, and constant experimentation.
The studios in the photographs are not empty. They contain artists, works in progress, tools scattered across the space, family members, or subjects being portrayed. Studios are hubs that hold the unspoken parts of an artist’s life, unfinished works, and spaces that speak to their style of expression and living. The artworks we are accustomed to seeing in museum spaces will now be viewed at the place of their creation, offering a new perspective.
The artists and their works in the studios were immortalized through the lenses of renowned masters of artistic photography in Spain. The exhibited photographs—whether created by Mariano and Vicente Moreno, Ruiz Vernacci, Aurelio de Colmenares Orgaz, the Count of Polentinos, Cabré, Wunderlich, or Pando—are distinguished by their documentary value and aesthetic qualities. The technical skill of these photographers is evident in their masterful understanding of light and composition, as well as their ability to portray the personality of the painter or sculptor in harmony with the studio’s interior.
The exhibition features ninety photographs from the studios of Spanish artists and a selection of photographs representing seven Serbian painters significant to the collection of the Gallery of Matica Srpska. The photographs take us to the meeting points of private and public life, artists, and the objects of their creation, including figures like Sorolla, Maruja Mallo, Romero de Torres, Javier Clavo, as well as Uroš Predić, Paja Jovanović, and Stevan Aleksić.
This summer, the Gallery of Matica Srpska will be fully immersed in Hispanic culture, with the *Artists’ Studios* exhibition serving as a prelude to the traditional *Summer at the Gallery Square* event, which this year brings the theme “Hot Artistic Summer: From Spain to South America” and a new exhibition at Gallery Square.
The exhibition’s curators are Isabel Argerich Fernández and Óscar Muñoz Sánchez, while the curator at the Gallery of Matica Srpska is Stanislava Jovanović Mindić, MA. The exhibition will be accompanied by a rich program, including lectures on Fridays at 7:00 PM and guided tours by curators on weekends at 1:00 PM and 5:00 PM. Find more information on the official GMS website.
The project was realized in collaboration with the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Culture of the Kingdom of Spain, the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Novi Sad—Department of Italian and Ibero-American Studies, the Faculty of Technical Sciences at the University of Novi Sad—Department of Animation in Engineering, and with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia and the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information, and Relations with Religious Communities of AP Vojvodina.