Jovan Četirević Grabovan

Jovan Četirević Grabovan (Serbian Cyrilic: Јован Четиревић Грабован), (Grabova near Lenie, today Grabovë e Sipërme in Albania – Osijek, c. 1790), was a Serbian icon painter of Aromanian descent.

Biography

Četirević Grabovan was born in the village of Grabova somewhere around 1720. He recorded his surname as Čatir, Četir, Čatirović and Četrirević, and it is under the latter that he is best known nowadays. He always added to it Grabovan – "of Grabova“ – keeping connection with his native land. Even nowadays the population of this village is mostly Aromanian so in all probability Grabovan was also of Aromanian origin.

He came from a family of painters which we find active for several decades (previously known mostly as Grabovan, today in Albania as Çetiri). Painting, which above all meant icon painting, was a profitable art in areas of the Ottoman Empire populated by Orthodox believers and the secrets of the craft were kept within a family. It was not unusual that several generations of one family would be engaged in the same craft. Grabovan learned icon painting from local painters which share the same style as the painters of northern Greece and Epirus.

The whole of the artistic career of Jovan Četirević Grabovan, however, took place far away from Albania. As a Christian, sometime round 1750 together with his family Grabovan fled northwards to the Hapsburg lands and settled in Osijek (today in Croatia). There he offered his services to Orthodox Serbs who were at the time spread across the lands around Danube. The main job provider was the Serbian Orthodox Church, that is, the Metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci. All of his works are to be found in Serbian Orthodox churches scattered across Croatia, Slavonia, Hungary and Vojvodina.

From the church registers we know that Jovan Grabovan lived in Osijek with his mother, brother, sister and six children. It was here that Grabovan got acquainted with baroque painting that will transform his work. He remained living in this town until his death in 1790 and he signed most of his icons as the “inhabitant of Osijek” (stanovnik osečki).

Work

Jovan Četirević Grabovan is considered to be one of the best icon painters of the period. He modeled notions of late medieval, so called “zoographic” painting which he brought from his native land and absorbed the much sought new, baroque style. He developed an original style, somewhat more traditional in comparison with other Serbian icon painters of the period. On the other hand, Četirević Grabovan was an inquiring mind and he adopted many baroque features developing a bolder, more independent style, with exquisite baroque modeling of figures which are now much less static, naturalistic portraits and absence of golden background. In some of his works (Szekesfehervar iconostasis), with his light palette Četirević Grabovan even comes close to Rococo style.

Jovan Četirević Grabovan painted a number of iconostasises, all of them in Serb churches and monasteries. This is a list of some of his works:

His last work dates from 1780.

It seems that he was also working as a wood carver.

References

Dinko Davidov, Spomenici Budimske eparhije, Beograd – Novi Sad 1990, pp. 60–61, 418

Dejan Medaković, Barok kod Srba, Zagreb 1988, pp. 143–144

Kučeković A. 2004. Ikonostas Jovana Četirevića Grabovana u Orahovici. Zbornik radova Narodnog muzeja - Istorija umetnosti 17, (2): 219-242 (excerpt in English: http://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?query=ISSID%26and%263700&page=9&sort=8&backurl=%2Fissue.aspx%3Fissue%3D3700)

Dr Dušan J. Popović, Srbi u Vojvodini 2, Novi Sad 1990, pp. 421–422