Breda Beban
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The artist’s early works emerged in the mid-1970s during the height of Conceptualism. This was followed by an embrace of Nova slika (New Image Painting) in the early 1980s and a subsequent engagement with the Trans-avantgarde movement. Towards the end of the eighties, the artist’s most recent paintings were inspired by rich Byzantine frescoes.

1976-1984

Breda Beban, Untitled, 1976.
1976Untitled

Acrylic on canvas, 97 × 130 cm. Signed Breda Šosterič. Private collection.

This artist’s early work dates from the mid-1970s, during the height of Conceptualism.

Breda Beban, Otok (Island), 1980.
1980Otok (Island)

Acrylic on canvas, 200 × 150 cm. Private collection.

This artist’s painting is part of a series of seven paintings reflecting the vital currents of Nova Slika (New Image Painting) and the Transavantgarde.

Breda Beban, Vidim dio sebe u svakome (I see a Part of Myself in Everyone), 1981.
1981Vidim dio sebe u svakome (I see a Part of Myself in Everyone)

Acrylic on canvas, 240 × 280 cm. Private collection.

This artist’s painting is part of a series of more than twenty monumental paintings on canvas reflecting the vital currents of Nova Slika (New Image Painting) and the Transavantgarde.

Breda Beban, Mala smrt (Little Death), 1982.
1982Mala smrt (Little Death)

Acrylic on canvas, 250 × 290 cm. Exhibited at the Fifth Biennale of Sydney in 1984.

Breda Beban, Unutrašnje oko (Internal Eye), 1983.
1983Unutrašnje oko (Internal Eye)

Acrylic on canvas, 104.8 × 135 cm. Permanent collection, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka.

Breda Beban, Daughters of Memory, 1984.
1984Daughters of Memory

Acrylic on canvas, 155 × 205 cm. Exhibited at Studio D, Tübingen, in 1984.

Deeply influenced by Byzantine and Serbian medieval fresco painting discovered during her participation in the Sopoćanska viđenja colony. Exhibited at the Studio D in Tübingen in 1984.

“Breda Beban’s recent works appear to aspire to the status of sacred relics: to the artist, they are cherished or precious objects; to the viewer, they are artefacts imbued with the capacity to transmit covert messages. Here is yet another individual example demonstrating that the art of the mid-1980s is increasingly marked by a "new spiritualism": at a time when nothing else remains sacred, does there emerge an art dedicated not, of course, to sacred sites, but rather to a unique festival of art itself?”

Translation of an excerpt from Ješa Denegri’s text, on Breda Beban’s exhibition at the Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, 1987.

1986-1988

Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 1 of 10 (1986).
1 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, gilding, 30 × 40 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 2 of 10 (1986).
2 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, 30 × 40 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 3 of 10 (1986).
3 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, gilding, 38 × 46 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 4 of 10 (1986).
4 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, gilding, 38 × 46 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 5 of 10 (1986).
5 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, 30 × 40 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 6 of 10 (1986).
6 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, 30 × 40 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 7 of 10 (1986).
7 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas. Exhibited at the 22nd Zagreb Salon, 1987.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 8 of 10 (1986).
8 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, gilding, 38 × 46 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 9 of 10 (1986).
9 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1986. Acrylic on canvas, burnt canvas, 30 × 40 cm. Private collection.
Breda Beban, Icons of Invisible Things, work 10 of 10 (1988).
10 / 10 Icons of Invisible Things, 1988. Acrylic on canvas, gilding, 30 × 40 cm. Private collection.

List of paintings

1976

  • untitled, acrylic on canvas, 97×130 cm, private collection

1980

acrylic on canvas, 200×150 cm, series in private collection:

  • Vrt (Garden)
  • Cvijeće (Flowers)
  • Cvijeće za Mirjanu (Flowers for Mirjana)
  • Otok (Island)
  • Patke (Ducks)
  • Trešnje (Cherries)
  • Papagaji (Parrots)

1981

  • Toplo i hladno – Veliko veselje (Hot and Cold – Great Joy) acrylic on canvas, 226×275 cm, permanent collection in MSU – Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, (Inv. oznaka 2260)
  • Nježni osjećaj (Tender Feeling), acrylic on canvas, 216×288 cm, permanent collection in MSU – Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb
  • Vidim dio sebe u svakome (I see a Part of Myself in Everyone), acrylic on canvas, 240×280 cm, private collection
  • Zmijin trik (Snake’s Trick), acrylic on canvas, 290X240 cm, painting lost

1982

  • Dan (Day), triptych, acrylic on canvas, 3 x (300×146) cm, permanent collection in MSU – Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, (Inv. oznaka 2400 (I-II)I
  • Noć (Night), quadriptych, acrylic on canvas, 4 x (300×146) cm, permanent collection in MSU – Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, (Inv. znaka 2400 (I-II)II
  • Mala smrt (Little Death), acrylic on canvas, 250×290 cm; exhibited at The Fifth Biennale of Sydney in 1984, painting lost
  • Prošlu noć nisam mogla spavati (Last Night I Couldn’t Sleep), acrylic on canvas, 240×290 cm
  • Uživanje ubice (Killer’s Delight), acrylic on canvas, 250×290 cm
  • Prsten (Ring), acrylic on canvas, 250×290 cm
  • Ja ne znam piti (I don’t Know How to Drink), acrylic on canvas, 240×275 cm
  • Tajni znak (Secret Sign), acrylic on canvas, 235×228 cm
  • Slika za one koji poznaju strah (A painting for Those Who Know Fear), acrylic on canvas, 240×280 cm
  • Anđeo (Angel) acrylic on canvas, 220×280 cm
  • Slikar praznih ruku (Empty-handed Painter), acrylic on canvas, 220×280 cm
  • Zeleno ogledalo (Green Mirror), acrylic on canvas, 150×195 cm
  • Bježi dušo moja jer ćeš inače umrijeti od bola (Run, My Dear, or You Will Die from Pain) acrylic on canvas, 200×280 cm
  • Francuski poljupci, vino (French Kisses, Wine), acrylic on canvas, 240×290 cm
  • Cosmic Blues, acrylic on canvas, 240×290 cm
  • Ranjivost (Vulnerability), acrylic on canvas, 250×290 cm

1983

  • Unutrašnje oko (Internal Eye), acrylic on canvas, 104,8×135 cm, permanent collection in MMSU-Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Rijeka, (MMSU 1385)
  • Kalipso (Calypso), acrylic on canvas, 245×275 cm
  • Bredine bebe (Breda’s Babies), acrylic on canvas, 135×175 cm
  • Plovim prema Bizantu (I Am Sailing Towards Byzantium), acrylic on canvas, 135×175 cm
  • Tristan i Izolda (Tristan and Isolde), acrylic on canvas, 135×175 cm; the drawing Tristan i Izolda, pastel on paper, 71×100 cm, permanent collection in Pazin City Museum

1984

  • Daughters of Memory, 1984, acrylic on canvas, 155x205cm
  • The Painted Madonna has a Memory, acrylic on canvas, gilding, 250×160 cm
  • Kopija urezana u dlanove (Copy Carved into the Palms), acrylic on canvas, gilding, 250×160 cm

1985-1986

  • Uspavane zastave (Dormant Flags), series of three, acrylic on canvas, gilding, 280×180 cm

1986-1988

  • Ikone nevidljivih stvari (Icons of Invisible Things), series, 1986-1988, acrylic on canvas, 30×40, 38×46 cm, ten in private collection
  • Ikone nevidljivih stvari (Icons of Invisible Things), 1986, acrylic, gilding/canvas, burnt, 30,3×40,2 cm, one in permanent collection in MSU-Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb, (Inv. oznaka 2680)