Stojan Ćelić (Bosanski Novi, 1925 – Belgrade, 1992)
Stojan Ćelić graduated at the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1951 in the class of professor Nedeljko Gvozdenović, under whose tutorage he completed a special course in 1953. He was employed at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1954, and he worked as a professor since 1974. In the period between 1971 and 1973 he was the dean of the Academy.
He exhibited with the Independents group, and he was a member of the December group from 1955 until 1960. He was a member of AICA from 1956 and also of the Artists’ Association of Serbia. He was elected as an associate member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts in 1978, and he became a regular member in 1985. In 1991 he became Secretary of the Visual and Music Art Department.
He is the author of several monographs, many texts on visual art, in the book “Between the world and the painting” and “Sculpture’s destiny”. He was the initiator and an editor of Art magazine. In his lifetime he had two retrospective exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade and at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts gallery in 1990. The legacy of Stojan Ćelić was founded in Novi Grad.
He is the winner of numerous awards and accolades, including: the October prize of the city of Belgrade for graphics in 1958, the Seventh Of July award in 1960, the Yugoslavian Academy of Sciences and Arts graphics Cabinet award in 1964 and 1966, Politika’s award in 1969, the Big stamp of the Graphic collective in 1970, the October award for painting of the city of Belgrade in 1970, the award at the Ninth Nadežda Petrović memorial in 1970 and the Graphic collective’s Charter memorial for the contribution to Belgrade graphics in 1980.