Oste Erceg

Oste Erceg
Erceg in 2013, by Neven Djenadija
Born(1947-03-23)23 March 1947
Gornji Rakani, Novi Grad, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina, FPR Yugoslavia
Died4 June 2025(2025-06-04) (aged 78)
EducationBoško Karanović
Known forPainting, drawing
Notable workCherry (1980), Dawn in Rakani (1988), Rough horizon (2006), Sooty horn (2010), Father (2008)
AwardsPurchase awards at Novi Grad Art Salon in 1987. 1988. and in 1989.
PatronsLazar Drljaca, Stojan Celic, Djoko Mazalic

Oste Erceg (Serbian: [Осте Ерцег]; 23 March 1947 – 4 June 2025) was a Bosnian Serb painter from Novi Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Biography

Erceg was born in Gornji Rakani, where he completed elementary and high school, graduating in 1966. He began painting in 1967, while studying at the College of Textile-Chemical School in Zagreb, from which he graduated in 1972. In 1973, Erceg began working as an engineer in the textile industry. In 1986, he enrolled in a painting course at the Academy of Arts in Belgrade, which he attended until 1990.

Erceg died on 4 June 2025 at the age of 78.

Work

Erceg was notable for producing all his work as fingerpainting. His work focuses largely on his homeland of Gornji Rakani, and his memories of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His oeuvre comprises 300 works, of which 100 have been sold to collectors from Australia to the Americas.

Reception

In her book Slikano perom art historian Danka Damjanović describes Erceg as a painter who developed his talent and style in isolation from other artists, who painted with emotion and expression as a means of cleansing and self-realization.

Academician Enver Mandžić attributes Erceg's sense of color to his training as a textile dyeing engineer. On Erceg's portraiture, Mandžić says "In every one of his portraits, we can discover those deep emotional traits that are immortalized in the spirit of artists and models."

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions
Group exhibitions

Awards

Personal

Erceg was married and lived in Novi Grad. He had two daughters and owned a jewelry shop in Kostajnica.

References

  1. ↑ Preminuo slikar Oste Erceg (in Serbian)
  2. ↑ Damjanovic, Danka (2000). Slikano perom [Painted with feather]. Banja Luka Art Academy. p. 153.
  3. 1 2 Mandžić, Evnver (2006). "Paintings exhibition of Oste Erceg". The Bulletin of the Bosnian Cultural Center in Tuzla.

Further reading

Newspaper articles

  • Oslobodjenje (12 March 2000, page 13) "Strange World Oste Erceg"
  • Glas Srpski (12 April 2000, page 14) "Cross anxiety"
  • Glas Srpski (7 April 2006, page 19) "Portraits painted with love"
  • Oslobodjenje (15 June 2006, page 24) "Pictures Oste Erceg"
  • Blic (13 January 2012, page 28) "Unusual artist Oste Erceg creates fingers"
  • Glas Srpski (2 February 1994, page 9) "Exhibition of Oste Erceg"