Marko Čelebonović (Belgrade, 1902 – Saint Tropez, 1986)
Marko Čelebonović belongs to a generation that has gained artistic education in the period after World War I and has reached artistic maturity in the interwar period. A lawyer by trade, his artistic schooling began with sculpture at the atelier of Antoan Burdel, but soon he opted for painting. He lived in Saint Tropez from 1925. After the war he returns to Belgrade, where he was a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1947 until 1959. He was a member of the artistic groups Shape, The Twelve and The Independent. In 1958 he was chosen to be an associate member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and in 1968 he became a regular member. Upon retiring he returns to France.
During his life he was tied to France, to the tradition of the Paris school and colorism, Čelebonović has consistently remained a colorist. Motives of his painting were determined from the outset, dedicating himself to objects and figures in space (still lives, interiors, with or without human presence), as well as landscapes.
He exhibited in numerous individual and group exhibitions at home and abroad. In 1963 he was awarded with the Seventh of July lifetime achievement award. The Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade organized a retrospective exhibition dedicated to his work in 1966.