Anton Cetín

“What was really important for me was to leave the stamp of the time in which I lived,“ Anton Cetín saidin a conversation we had on the occasion of his recently completed series Covid-19.

When Mr. Anton Cetín sent me the image of the first painting from his Covid-19 series on May 14. I did not expect that I would have the privilege of following the creation of the whole series of 19 paintings, which I was finally able to view at the beginning of September. These paintings with Eve as a witness of the time, reflected a unpredictability of the coronavirus, just as scientific studies have revealed. After receiving the first nine paintings, my response to Mr. Anton Cetín was: “Something completely new!” So I was delighted when Mr. Anton Cetín agreed to an interview about his latest painting series.

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Your latest series Covid-19 is a rare artist’s response to this frightening pandemic disease. Through history, artists have thematized past infections much more, especially the emergence of the plague. The war, which is also disturbing and drastically life-threatening, has been a regular theme in almost all of the arts. However, artists remain mostly silent about the present-day coronavirus which has forced mankind, as scientifically and technologically advanced as we are, to resort to medieval methods of protection. Why have you decided to break the silence in this series?“

Anton Cetín: “From the very beginning the appearance of Covid-19, which is completely and irreversibly changing our previous reality into a completely new unimagined, unpredictably dramatic, frightening, perilous and worrying one, aroused in me the need to do something to react in my own, pictorial way – on canvas. The idea itself was not enough – it was necessary to think of what to paint and which elements would have to take precedence and which would be the best, the most picturesque to realize and show in such a complex and demanding task. And it wasn‘t simple and easy. And then how, by what technique or by what techniques to achieve all that. It was immediately clear to me that one painting would not be enough, that more of them would need to be painted – one larger series of paintings, the number of which was not really in sight at the time.

What was really important to me was to realize the idea in terms of leaving the stamp of the time in which I lived, the way I saw it, understood it, experienced it for the whole time I was painting it. That’s why I reacted in my own way, and I wasn’t silent. And that’s why I decided on this series.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Just before your departure for Paris, in 1965, your series of drawings of the Ominous Birds was created in Zagreb as a reflection of, as you said in one of our previous conversations in 2016, the ominous threat of apocalyptic proportions of the A bomb. The drawings, which you sent me, also strongly alluded to scenes from the Apocalypse: the devastated Earth, the smoke, hunger and exhaustion of the rare survivors, the self-destruction of man by his own technology, as well as the influence of cosmic forces. Has this, extremely imaginative series through the richness of drawings and especially shaded large dark as well as white surfaces, been an inspiration for your Covid-19 series?“

Anton Cetín: “It is true that in Zagreb in 1965, my series of drawings of the Ominous Birds was created as a reflection on ominous threats of apocalyptic proportions of the A bomb. All the rest of what you have stated in this question is also true. And, to be able to find an answer to this question in terms of the inspiration of the Ominous Birds series for the Covid-19 series, we must first go back to 1965, which means only 55 years back, so, in the year in which the scenes you mentioned in this question first appeared in my work. Some of these scenes from the Ominous Birds series became in fact a link to those in the Phantom series, created in Paris in 1967; and those from the Phantom series appear again in the Universe Desturbed series, created in Toronto, 2001; and now these scenes and symbols find their way to this new Covid-19 series.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “In the first painting of Covid-19 series, which you showed me at the beginning of May 2020, one could notice the enigmatic number 2001, as I characterized it in my response after receiving that painting. The author Branka Hlevnjak in her text entitled New Series of Paintings by Anton Cetín Covid-19, published on the Epoha Portal in July 2020, stated that for this new series of paintings you have used forgotten, unpublished works from your series Universe Disturbed, created in 2001. This is a very interesting fact in addition to the fact that there were nineteen of those works.

That incredible coincidence with the number 19 that this horrible virus of unexplained origin contains in its name, as well as the connection with the Universe Disturbed series is strange. Did it come as a surprise to you? Did you perhaps accept this coincidence as synchronicity or as something connecting and anticipatory?“

Anton Cetín: “At the beginning of the spring of 2001, I started working on a series of paintings that did not have a title at that time. Early in the morning on 9/11, the day of the demolition of the World Trade Center in New York, I went to the city to do some work. As I was passing through the underground part of the buildings in one place I noticed a completely mute – silent and motionless bunch of people looking at something on the screen. It stirred my curiosity so I joined them and also saw the whole demolition. Those images impressed me terribly. I went back to the studio with the idea of recording it, but under the weight of everything I saw, I just wasn’t able to do anything. And when I looked around at the paintings I had been working on until then, the name Universe Disturbed emerged for them – at that moment I wasn’t even aware from where. One portion of the works on paper in the acrylic technique in preparation remained unused, so I stored it in a box and put it aside, completely forgetting about it.

Thinking about how I would start working on the Covid-19 series, I remembered the box. I opened the box and started counting, and to my great surprise there were exactly 19 of these unused works, which I simply – without any thought have decided to use. And so I decided on a series of 19 paintings. I accepted it as synchronicity because everything coincided in time, connecting because it was thematically related to previous events, and also as anticipatory because in my painting I sensed the arrival of something new – a new beginning.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Could you clarify if these works were unfinished and now in some way are completed, or have you painted over those paintings, leaving number 2001 visible?“

Anton Cetín: “These works were not previously completed, they waited while I worked on the Universe Disturbed series. I have transferred each of them to the canvas with a specific technique and I have painted new symbols over them related to this series – Covid 19. And since these unfinished works were created in 2001, I left the numbers visible for documentation. For example, in the upper part of the first painting of this series, one can see a character also painted in 2001 and now transferred to this series, a demon character in the role of generator of enormous energy of evil behind the viruses that dominate the entire image space accomplishing their task. From their empty dead whiteness, the white eyes of this character sow death. An evil satanic smile is a reaction to the doom that has befallen us and in which we are only helpless observers and victims.“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, the First Painting

Jasna Lovrincevic: “In the first painting of this series, regardless of the frightening symbols, its symmetry and colours, lightness and brightness create a feeling of harmony and tranquility, as I wrote in reply after receiving the first picture. The following paintings reflect the horror and dramatic events that this virus has created in the world, showing its unpredictability. But, on the last image Eve appears smiling, symbolically representing the winner. In this sense, the whole series creates an optimistic impression. Has optimism guided you through the creation of this series?“

Anton Cetín: “Regardless of everything shown in the paintings, from the first to the last, optimism has carried me the whole time I worked on this series and leads me with hope to the positive end of this frightening pandemic.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Covid 19 has become the subject of intensive research by scientists around the world and we hope that some solution will be found to end this pandemic. In your depiction you have gone much further, giving a vision of the world future. In the last painting, the four graphic symbols of the coronavirus are associated with the four riders of the Apocalypse according to John’s Revelation in Chapter Six: a white one, a red one with brown ends of the coronary part, and a black one, all of them with corresponding contents below which reflect events of recent times.

The fourth rider of the Apocalypse is Death on a Green horse, while in your painting the fourth one, actually is the first symbol in gray. In addition to the content below it, the face in profile is painted in green, the colour of death. Did you intentionally make such a sequence of symbols of the coronavirus?“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, the Second Painting

Anton Cetín: “In the last, 19th painting, I followed the order of current events: first the disease appeared – a pandemic symbolically represented by a rider on a gray horse; second, there is hunger and misery symbolically represented by a rider on a black horse; third, at the time it usually occurs, war is symbolically represented by the rider on the red horse; and finally the fourth, when the time comes for victory symbolically represented by the rider on the white horse. That is why in the upper part of the picture we have 4 viruses – gray, black, red and white, and below each of them is a more detailed pictorial representation of what each of them symbolizes. Beneath the gray virus, a green-colored figure at the bottom of the image represents a dead face.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “The mysterious coronavirus has aroused different opinions about its origin; it has sparked varied research about previous infections through history; it has led many to read various prophecies, to think about economic prospects or about psychological consequences on the new way of life; and, it has provoked many other considerations related to all aspects of human life. One can say your last painting has summarized all of these reflections; an infection that turns life to gray, turns hunger to misery, war to blood and death; and finally, the yellow color of the sun and Eve represents the colours of new life. Such an explicit depiction certainly requires courage, but also it encourages viewers to reflect. Did you experience a dilemma regarding posting the last painting?“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, Painting No.16

Anton Cetín: “No, I did not experience dilemma in posting of the last painting. Soon after the first few completed paintings, I started thinking about the last painting, which should complete or determine the series. Thinking about it and considering several other possibilities that have arisen, the idea of the possibility of applying one perhaps more specific solution – the apocalyptic one – suddenly appeared. I decided to tackle that challenging idea. While working on other images, I searched for the basic features of the Apocalypse, accepting the ones that I thought would be the most appropriate to best represent the content of the image and thus justify its final outcome.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “All nineteen paintings individually retain the viewer’s view by the richness in diversity in terms of form, and expressiveness manifested by fantastic colours, as well as the richness of the characters because the individual paintings are almost figurative. The individual paintings, 16, 17, 18 as well as 15 or 14 are so rich in fine detail in terms of variety of lines, colours and shapes that they are reminiscent of the richness of miniature painting. What challenges has this series presented for you in terms of painting?“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, Painting No.19

Anton Cetín: “As in my case this series is an artistic expression of the situation caused by the frightening Covid -19 pandemic disease, it has been quite clear to me that hundreds of human characters – portraits in all possible physical and mental situations in the paintings of this series, I can realize my ideas best in a figurative way.

Everything you have stated and described in this question is so beautiful and true to me that there is no need to repeat it. Thank you. And all this has been made possible by one of my specific techniques that I discovered while I was painting the series Universe Disturbed. Now, working on my Covid -19 series, I have discovered even more new possibilities that have enabled me to further develop this technique, I would dare to say, to perfection.

And it doesn’t surprise me when you say that individual paintings are so rich in fine details in terms of a variety of lines, colours, and shapes that they are reminiscent of the richness of miniature painting. The idea has been to achieve this with the greatest possible richness of lines and shapes, to connect them with other symbols, and to achieve a dynamic rhythm needed within each painting.

I think that in this sense it would be an omission to ignore some of the features or at least not briefly explain them in the mentioned pictures: 15, 16, 17 and 18. For example in the 15th painting, the characters, especially accentuated with bright colours, are actually wanderers in an almost apocalyptic depiction of a devastated landscape. In painting 16, the squares symbolically depict the graves of the unknown, without the religious features that are insignificant to the corona virus anyway. In painting 17, with its richness of lines, colours and shapes, I wanted to show children’s toys scattered everywhere, disturbed by a powerful virus, unfortunately in this case without children, but also with the hope of their quick return.

Painting 18, still rich in details as in previous images, essentially shows the virus-trapped Eve, who in spite of being trapped, firmly and irrefutably believes in the very end of the epidemic. Well, my idea from the very beginning was to paint not only viruses and ugly scenes of human beings in the situations they found themselves in – worry, fear, pain, suffering, death – but also the hope and belief leading to one final and more positive end of Covid 19.

In terms of painting, this series has been a huge challenge for me, enriching me with many new life insights and opening up new painting possibilities – I have a feeling that it expects to continue…“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Your Eve recently celebrated her fiftieth birthday and at the promotion of Eve’s Monograph 1967-2017, you announced in your inspired speech that Eve would continue to be your muse and inspiration to the end. And now Eve has witnessed this difficult time as well. After the series of Universe Disturbed, Revival and the triumph of the Rainbow, Eve has taken you through the horror of the corona virus and has continued on to a new life. Eve has become like one original painting element. Could you imagine a composition without Eve?“

Anton Cetín: “That’s a very good and interesting question. As you say, it is true that in my speech at the promotion of the monograph EVE 1967-2017, I announced that Eve would continue to be my muse and inspiration to the end. And that is absolutely true, with two exceptions: the first would happen the moment I betrayed Eve, and the second in the unwanted one.

And a composition without Eve could only happen with a transition to abstract painting. And for that I see neither need nor purpose.“

Anton Cetín

“Through my painting I strive to explain to myself the past, the present, and the future, actually the continuity of life”—these are the words of the great Croatian and Canadian artist, Anton Cetín, who to date has exhibited independently throughout the world, participated in a great many significant group exhibitions, with works found in many world museums and galleries, and whose name can be found in several Canadian, American, Croatian and international lexicons. A permanent exhibit of his work can be found on display in Čazma in a gallery bearing his name since 2001.

Cetín’s artistic output is vast and also awe-inspiring. Looking at individual series of his works chronologically and the output in its entirety, the placement of new ideas is fascinating, elaborated as variations of a theme. With the force of all possible artistic elements, the series give the impression of a stream of consciousness, a continuous flow of ideas fraught with dilemmas, questions, revelations, emotions and hope, unquestioningly preoccupied with the transcendental and yearning for the eternal.

The compositions with Eve and the bird, Anton Cetín’s recognizable motifs demonstrate an inexhaustible imagination and tremendous artistic power in portraying subjects in a novel way and always through new expressions, resulting in a host of themes and associations. Through the symbolism associated with her, Eve consistently directs towards life and, in various forms, to life’s abundance and diversity, to its fragile quality, its continuity and eternalness.

The series with wheat fields are especially noteworthy and can be viewed as interesting depictions of the Canadian landscape, but also as the development and exuberance of life and personal interaction. (Wheat Fields A8, 1981.)

I was greatly honoured and pleased when in January 2016, Anton Cetín sent a short e-mail agreeing to an interview. I am particularly grateful to Mr. Cetín for taking the time whilst preparing for five exhibitions planned for September 2016 in Croatia, as I learned at the end of our conversation. The exhibitions in question will be held in galleries and museums of the native Croatian areas closest to him—Čazma, Bjelovar, Kutina, Petrinja, and then Zagreb. Because of his sense of belonging and kinship with his native land, on the occasion of the artist’s 80th birthday, all the exhibited works will be gifted to the galleries and museums of the cities mentioned, as well as to the National University Library in Zagreb.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Your works of art, their presentations and reception throughout the world are immense and admirable, as is your life’s path which took you from Bojana in your early childhood, through Zagreb to Paris, Toronto and through your works to the rest of the world. Could you tell us something about your beginnings in art, when did you actually start painting, or rather drawing? When was it that you recognized the painter or artist in yourself?”

Anton Cetín: “I started to draw quite early in my life, when I was five or six years old, and to paint a little later. When I reflect on what has transpired in my life between then and now, including my involvement with art, I become more convinced that there was a certain guiding force or protector standing behind certain events, perhaps one could even call it a higher force. Already quite early in my childhood I faced and lived through many horrors of the Second World War. But even in those times there were positive moments. All that, I believe, shaped not only my view of the world, but also my involvement in art. Because it was risky and dangerous during the time of war to leave the house, my curiosity and tireless star-gazing and contemplation about what was actually happening in that endlessly mysterious space or universe, was only possible to do at night, through the window.

By the end of the war in 1945, I was nine years old and I had an unbelievably wondrous dream in which I saw unusual architectural forms and even stranger flying objects which to me were unbelievable until then, and I heard a voice say such objects would be built in the near future not only on the earth but also beyond it, in space. From this dream later emerged the series of paintings Spaceships and Space Architecture.

Anton Cetín: Ominous Birds 1965

The period from 1954-1964 I attended the School of Applied Arts followed by the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb. The professors at these two educational institutes, mostly well-known Croatian artists, guided us with their artistic experience and knowledge, in learning and perfecting the techniques of drawing and painting, and introduced us to the secrets of the art profession. After graduation, confident in our academic grounding, we set out courageously in pursuit of our artistic goals and dreams. The path, however, was not as smooth as we had imagined in that we did not expect the thornier side of the calling. In the end our creations will be the only indicators of our success.

At the beginning of the 1960s in the last century, the fear of the atomic bomb made the situation in the world extremely precarious and the ominous threats of apocalyptic proportions hung over our heads. We feared not only for our own survival, but also for the unpredictability of our future. As a reaction to all of that my drawings entitled Ominous Birds emerged in 1965.”

Paris – Genesis of Eve

Jasna Lovrinčević: “From 1966-1968 you lived in Paris and created a significant body of work, some 250 pieces. This represents an extraordinary burst of creativity. What was the main stimulus behind that intense drive? In 2008 at the Mimara Museum in Zagreb you exhibited 100 of your Paris works and you said that you “often looked at those works while in the intimate confines of my atelier as dear mementos, long-harboured in the heart…” What exactly do these works mean to you? Had you already been to Paris prior to that? I would like to ask you to say something more about that particular period which is said to be an important passage in the development of your art when you introduced Eve into your paintings.”

Anton Cetín: “My first trip abroad was in 1964 as part of an excursion with a group of Zagreb Academy students to Paris. My second trip to Paris, this time with the intention of staying, came about at the beginning of 1966. However, in order to be able to stay and live there one had to find work. It was impossible to live from one’s art, especially for those newly arrived and unknown. I brought with me ten selected illustrations from among one hundred that I made for the publication From the Pedestrian to the Rocket at the Mladost publishing house in Zagreb, and I showed these to Mr. Tamagno, director of the illustration section at Larousse in Paris.
Enthused with the quality of the illustrations, he kindly directed me to one of the five best-known illustrators in Paris and their immediate associate, J. M. Rabec, who immediately offered me a job. Along other design work, I also worked on illustrations for the Larousse publication Planètes & Satelites. With this I resolved the question of living and staying in France.
My two years in Paris were indeed intensive and productive. Besides working and learning the language, I devoted all my free time to art. Finding myself in a new, different and freer environment with a less tense international atmosphere, my art experienced a major transformation. Unexpectedly the sun, clarity and hope in a better tomorrow appeared in my new works and opened up new creative possibilities for me. In 1966-1967 my Phantoms emerged, successors of the Zagreb Ominous Birds, slowly freeing themselves from the burdens of the recent past, resolutely leading towards a more positive and brighter future.

Anton Cetín: Maternity

It was here that my Eve was born in 1967. From her very beginnings, through different civilizations and cultures in history, Eve was surrounded by mystery, transformations and adoration, which has not changed to this day despite our modern, what we like to call, enlightenment. She represents femininity, the giver of life, the spirit of peace and harmony, the icon of creative sanctity-in short, she is a spiritual being. In my works she often takes on a heart-like shape, and the heart is the centre of life, determination and prudence, intelligence and wisdom, a symbol of earthly and divine love, and as such Eve is an inspiration and the moving force which guides my creative energy towards the creation of what for me is a new world, a world of the vision of my art. I consider the oil on canvas painting, Maternity, to be one of the first works with the image of Eve, which continued to be present in countless variations later in Canada. My Paris works, sketches, drawings, gouaches, collages, paintings and lithographs, which I created in my nineteen months there, were indeed extensive. They were the result of a truly creative drive.”

The First Independent Exhibition

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You held an exhibition in Paris, which, I imagine, was not an easy thing to do. It would be interesting to learn about the circumstances that led to it.”

Anton Cetín: “On a beautiful spring day in 1967 as I was walking through Montparnasse I found myself in front of the Atelier Edouard Noël. I walked in and met the owner, the charming Mr. Noël. After introductions and a conversation, he offered me workspace in his atelier under very favourable conditions, which I could not turn down. Whenever I had free time I would go to the studio and already by autumn I completed several coloured lithographs which impressed him. To my great surprise not only did he offer me an exhibition, but also offered me to move to his castle outside of Paris with ample space to live and work, under his sponsorship. I accepted his offer of an exhibition, but because I had already made plans to leave Paris, I declined the other offers. Thus, at the beginning of February 1968 I had my very first one-man show of some of the works I had created in Paris at the Atelier Edouard Noël.

Even though with time the number of my Paris works in my possession had become smaller, due to a planned exhibit in Croatia I was still able to select 100 works which in my opinion, were the most characteristic of that period. The exhibit, entitled 100 Parisian Works was displayed in 2006, 2007 and 2008 and traveled to museums and galleries in eleven Croatian cities: Čazma, Kutina, Koprivnica, Križevci, Bjelovar, Vinkovci, Našice, Slatina, Virovitica, Zagreb, and Split.”

Canada – A Time of Intensive Creativity

Jasna Lovrinčević: “From Paris you moved to Canada. What impact did the new milieu in Toronto have on your artistic inspiration?”

Anton Cetín: “On arriving in Canada, specifically to Toronto, and becoming acquainted with new surroundings completely different from what I left behind in Paris, I endeavoured to devote all my free time to painting and print-making. New themes emerged through intensive and dedicated work, such as the series of paintings entitled Lovers, the series Search for the Beyond and Reflections on Infinity. In the series Lovers the embracing figures on the canvas represent not only a sense of freedom of motion in space, but also a belief in the capacity of the human mind to extend its limitless imagination beyond the confines of this Earth.

Anton Cetín: Reflection on Infinity II 1971

The series Search for the Beyond is essentially a continuation of the series Lovers—the concept was the same in the creative and technical sense, only now the lovers are joined by flying crafts—spaceships—by virtue of whose presence the boundaries of space are appreciably extended, giving the paintings a new dimension, opening up limitless possibilities of its further exploration. In the series Reflections on Infinity the use of a specific technical approach in resolving the paintings’ structure— especially on the surface of the paper—brought about complex, almost surrealistic planes and depths within a new and different space. Within that space are images of windows made with emphatic, sharp lines—closed, half-closed or completely opened—and inside the windows there are depictions of the Earth or some other planet, and in some instances the figure of Eve is included. The windows appear as portals suggesting some other place—another dimension—which together reveal not only the idea of infinity and its expansion in all directions, but also an attempt to present that reality as a rational organization of geometrical figures.”

Confidence in His Own Creativity

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Following Paris, after less than a year in Canada, you held an exhibition in 1969. This was followed by exhibitions in 1971, 1973, and already in 1974 you exhibited in Japan, Belgium then again in Canada followed by practically the rest of the world… This is a fascinating turn of events. Were you personally at all the openings? How difficult was it to organize so many exhibitions? I invite you to say more about this, because very few artists experience this.”

Anton Cetín: “Indeed, I started to exhibit my works after only one year of arriving to Canada. The exhibitions in Canada led to opportunities to exhibit abroad. With the help of people I met and worked with during my exhibits, it became increasingly easier to organize new shows. Since exhibitions often took place in more than one country at the same time, I was unable to be present at all the openings, but I made a point of personally attending the bigger and more important shows. Of course, this was only possible because of my persistence and dedication, an immense will and above all because of my belief in myself and in my art.”

Artistic Transformation

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You once spoke of a car accident in 1972 and how that made you realize, in a sense, the purpose of your life. Could you please tell us something about that? You also declared that after the accident you discovered a desire to fight against everything negative in the world. In what way did you do that? Today the negative is not accepted as negative and the good is not considered good; what do you actually see as good in this seemingly relative approach?”

Anton Cetín: “The car accident was an extremely critical experience. In an instant I found myself in a sort of tunnel filled with indescribable whiteness, and with dizzying speed all the moments of my life passed by in a few seconds. And then suddenly everything stopped, disappeared. I woke up a few hours later in a hospital with a doctor standing by my bedside telling me I was incredibly lucky to be alive. I felt I had been reborn and along with that I experienced a new, more positive understanding of the value of life and its spiritual side, all of which caused a great transformation in my art. After a recovery that lasted an entire year, I returned to a painting I had started before the accident and infused it with the change that I had experienced and when completed I called it Rebirth. The same happened with the painting Existence – Continuation. My declaration that I fight against everything negative with the positive emanates from the experience of that accident. I think the suggestion that today the negative is not perceived as negative and that the good is no longer accepted as good is a generalization I do not have an answer for.

Anton Cetín: Celebration of the Universe 1975

The series Eve and the Moon from 1974-1975, consisting of several tens of drawings and collages, shows two figures from the mythology of love—Eve and the moon—in their long and complex history of iconography interwoven with Eve’s constant and unpredictable transformations. In these drawings and collages I attempted to gather the richness of imagery, colour and materials which could assist in the realization of new ideas in new series or particular themes. Thus from that series there emerged a large format painting, 183 x 549 cm, a triptych titled Celebration of the Universe, followed by other paintings, also in large format; the triptych Three Graces, the triptych Invitation, Eve in Red with her spiritual symbol, and many others.”

Landscapes Around Calgary

Jasna Lovrinčević: “The paintings in the Wheat Fields series from the1980s are presented in the form of endless lines in concentrated circles, but one field under the title Contoured Field II creates the impression of a labyrinth. Am I seeing it correctly? Do the wheat fields open up the question of preordination and freedom, because in the painting Wheat Field A8 from 1981 one gets the impression that the endless line is being drawn by someone from above?”

Anton Cetín: “The series Prairies came about after a flight to Calgary in 1980 that left a strong impression on me. From the airplane at some 10,000 metres, the sight of wheat fields, arable land, uncultivated surfaces and the lakes fascinated me and I could not resist recording this with some sketches in pencil and in photographs, sensing the start of a new series, a series of a vision from a completely different environment. It was truly impressive to view those immense surfaces from that vantage point, so reduced from that height yet with clearly defined forms, structures, and colours which they filled. The core idea behind the paintings in this series aims, in part, to artistically portray the structures that emerge from the cultivation of land as well as at the depiction of the impact of the experience in relation to space and perspective.

The lines moving in a concentric circle and in other patterns of the wheat fields are actually lines that the combines leave behind when harvesting the fields, which viewed from that height create the impression of a labyrinth. In less than two years, from 1980-1981, I created a good number of drawings, collages, paintings and prints. Periodically from 1981 onwards the theme resurfaces and remains alive. Thus, for example in 2015 when I created a new series of works titled Inspirations of the Fields, the image of Eve is visibly connected to them.

Anton Cetín: Contoured Field II 1981

The year 1981 was an exceptionally important and productive one for my work. For the first time a fully developed figure of Eve appeared in a profile followed by the series Eve and the Flower-bird; a combination of Eve, the bird and the flower. At the opening of my exhibition at the National and University Library in Zagreb in 1988 among other things, Tomislav Ladan said: “The mystical and vibrant trinity of woman-bird-flower embodies irrefutable traditional roots of the spirituality of the feminine combined with the cult of the life-bearing woman and the spirit symbolized by the bird, together with the flower representing love and nature itself.” From this interconnectedness emerged a large painting in 1983, Eve and the Flower-bird in Blue, followed by paintings of various sizes: Ecstasy, With Yellow Flower-bird, With Green Hair, Mystery, and others.”

Contemplation About the World Beyond

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You made a very interesting statement once saying that you feel you are living not only here on this earth but also in some other place and that is why your figures find themselves in a particular space or there is a window into some other dimension. The painting titled Motion in Space VIII (2000) or the diptych Eve, Then and Now (1993), the painting Play in Blue (1992), as well as the series of paintings called Rainbow (2012) with a blue-coloured background suggest a total immersion into blue space. Is the blue space in these paintings related to the space that you sense?”

Anton Cetín: Contemplation Upon the World Beyond III

Anton Cetín: “Given that we all live on this Earth and that daily we look into that limitless and mysterious space or universe and contemplate everything that is happening there, my personal thoughts on this are based on events from my childhood as well as later ones which I already mentioned, as an attempt to realize everything that I had experienced, including things of a transcendental nature. From this I came to the realization that, looking from earth, I am personally, and with that my art, a part of that universe and within it a part of some other space. It is because of this that I feel as if I am living also in that other place. From 1987 to 2000 a great number of works emerged: paintings, pastels, drawings, collages, prints in various techniques on themes tied to the ones from the 1970s on contemplations about infinity, the otherworldly and the unknown world, including Journey to the Unknown, Play in Blue, Eve, Then and Now, Eye into Infinity I, II, III, Rapture, Contemplation upon the World Beyond I, II, III, and others.”

Expression of Colours

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Looking at your works that were created in Canada with their pronounced colours which create a strong impression and generate an atmosphere which affects the viewer—in the monograph Anton Cetín Branka Hlevnjak states that “These colours, according to the artist, are chosen for a reason”—one immediately thinks of Goethe, Mondrian, Kandinsky, Rudolph Steiner… Once again the question about the choice of colours comes up: was this a conscious choice based on a familiarity with the theoretical texts of the mentioned authors, or is the selection a subconscious one guided by your artistic intuition?”

Anton Cetín: Universe 47 (2002)

Anton Cetín: “At the beginning of 2001 I started to work on a new series of paintings on canvas using mixed media that was yet to be titled, a series that already carried signs of the troubles of that time. On September 11, after the dreadful event of airplanes crashing into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and while the fire was still burning and the smoke still smoldering, I went to my studio with the intention of transferring some of that onto canvas. However, impacted by what I had seen and experienced and overwhelmed by emotion, I was unable to do anything. And then suddenly, to my surprise, the title Universe Disturbed appeared. Since I always considered myself to be an advocate of humanity and spirituality, I felt an irrepressible need to immerse myself in this extremely challenging series based on that horrifying event to draw attention to the inhumanity that surrounds us and to alert us to the increasingly aggressive intent to limit, if not destroy, our humanity and spirituality. In the works from this series the external objects, mainly of triangular shape, are directed at Eve who by retreating into her own world is trying to protect herself from those threats. The colours, particularly the combination of black, red and green within those extraneous objects, were chosen because they best convey their aggression. After close to three years of intensive work, the Universe Disturbed refused to be reconciled with my bringing it to an end, persistently wanting to return, because clearly the universe was still ‘disturbed’.

Anton Cetín: Revival III 2003

Immediately after the completion of paintings on that distressing theme, Universe Disturbed, in 2003 a new series emerged, titled Revival, which was described by Ivanka Reberski in a catalogue for an exhibition marking the tenth anniversary of the Gallery Anton Cetín in Čazma (2001-2011) as follows: “Once again light flooded into Cetín’s world. From the bright circle of the sun, which now prevails, flows a great source of energy. From this field of energy positive impulses unfold, while on the sensitive face of the faithful ‘Eve’ a feeling of infinite yearning and hope radiates, for without hope we would no longer be able to believe in a better world. This positive charge continues in the paintings called Revival I and Revival II from 2003. As though with a thin vertical line, Cetín divided the world in these paintings into the present and the past or the future, into good and evil, into light and darkness, with which he confronted us directly by depicting a shining circle of the sun on a dark blue background which can be associated with the night, the sea, the sky, the distance, the depth. Everything remains open to our powers of association and left to the free imagination. It is in precisely this that the uniqueness of Cetín’s artistic rhetoric rests.”

The Rainbow as a Sign of the Almighty

Jasna Lovrinčević: “From 2008 a new series of paintings appeared titled Rainbow. What do the colours of the rainbow, the rainbow itself, mean to you?”

Anton Cetín: “The series of paintings Rainbow came after observing that natural phenomenon and thinking about it as a spectacle of beauty in all its colours, which are also mentioned in the Bible. It is believed that the rainbow is a sign of the Almighty. It is also mentioned in the story about Noah when after the flood, God appears and in the sky a beautiful rainbow emerges signifying his glory and power.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “The painting Rainbow 35 from 2012, without Eve, depicts a modified cone filled with the colours of a rainbow floating in infinity, but divided into three shades of blue, giving the impression of a culmination of a sequence of reflections or a spiritual quest that can be followed throughout your works, but also in the manner of your artistic exploration which too is traceable over time. Looking at this painting in its array of creativity, one hears almost a triumphant music, a grand finale (this is my personal experience) or perhaps indifference. Does this painting perhaps represent the end of artistic creativity in the absence of Eve, your “creative force”, does she represent the realization of longevity in art or is it a culmination of a certain realization? The Rainbow series from 2008 and 2009 remind me personally of Jakob Böhme and his Philosophical Sphere or Eye of Eternity. Can such a parallel be drawn? On the other hand, you said in a video recorded at the time of your Wheat Fields that through your paintings you are attempting to explain the past to yourself, the present and the future—the continuity of life. Can the series Rainbow also be understood in that context?”

Anton Cetín: Series Rainbow 35 ( 2012)

Anton Cetín: “In the series of paintings from 2008 and 2009, as well as in 2012, in addition to resolving the issues of harmony and balance of the colours of the rainbow with the image of Eve, we encounter not only certain artistic explorations but also the positioning of other elements in relation to her image in the context of the overall composition. There are contemplations and searches for the esthetic as well as for spiritual values. In order to achieve especially the latter quality, the blue colour is of special importance. As already mentioned, through my paintings I am trying to explain to myself the past, the present and the future; the continuity of life actually, and the series of these paintings can be understood in that context as well.

The thought that the series Rainbow remind you personally of Jakob Boehme’s Philosophical Sphere or Eye of Eternity through which he expresses his vision and understanding of the harmony of the universe and the gift of a specific calling from God is flattering. The very fact that we are dealing with a gap of four hundred years, the very thought of making such a connection with the name of Jakob Böhme could be interpreted as overly aspiring. I therefore leave it to you to draw the suggested parallel.

The series Rainbow without Eve is an attempt to create something new in my work—to create a visual sense of the sound of music. When I paint I almost always have music playing in the background, mostly classical music, and I see that as an important component of my creativity. That is why I think your suggestion that one can hear triumphant music, a grand finale, when viewing this painting is not only not surprising, but is also flattering, if I may say so, because it confirms what I intended to portray. Regarding the question of whether this painting represents perhaps the end of my artistic creativity, especially in the absence of Eve—my “creative force”—I would say that many other of my works also contain no image of Eve, but this does not mean, however, that she is not present in spirit.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “The images or symbols that regularly appear in your paintings; the figure of Eve, the heart, the bird, the flower, the rainbow, are in a sense, recognizable features of your works. Did these symbols emerge intentionally, consciously, or as an inner need to express something that is not apparent from their conventional meaning, and which, as you say, every viewer of your painting creates his or her own interpretation?”

Anton Cetín: “Many of the images that I use, symbols actually (the image of Eve, the heart, the bird, the flower, the colours of the rainbow—the rainbow itself) came about intentionally, though admittedly there are also nuances that came about as a result of an inner need to convey something beyond what these symbols conventionally represent; and to be sure, as you say, every viewer of my paintings or paintings of other artists, creates his or her own interpretation in some world of their own.

In 1978 a Canadian art critic and historian, Gordon McLennan, stated the following in a review of my art for the journal artmagazine37: “For Cetín art civilizes and humanizes. The artist deals with spiritual truth. He creates because he has no alternative”.”

Translation from Croatian: PH.D Vladimir Bubrin