Boža Ilić (1919 – 1993)
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1945 in the class of Milo Milunović. He exhibited for the first time in 1947. In the same year, he became a member of the Artist’s Association of Serbia. He belongs to the generation of post-war Yugoslavian artists of 20th century. After World War II, in the time when socialistic realism was almost obligatory for artists, his paintings with social themes and realistic style were glorified by the government. After the change of course in politics his art suffered because he was proclaimed as a government’s artist.
His opus is divided into two periods – before and after 1950. In the first period there are monumental compositions, strongly influenced by romantic inspiration. There is a huge number of still lifes, landscapes and portraits from the second period in the colorist expressionism style.
He exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 1950. He participated in numerous individual and group exhibitions at home and abroad. A retrospective exhibition in the honor of his work was hosted in Belgrade in 1994 at the National Museum in Belgrade. He was the first winner of the Federal award for painting and first place of the City of Belgrade Award. The Art gallery in Prokuplje bears the name and every year an art colony is held within it under the same name. The Toplice museum in Prokuplje awards the Boža Ilić painting prize.