Who Was Nadežda Petrović

Nadežda Petrović (Čačak, 11 October 1873 – Valjevo, 3 April 1915) was a Serbian painter, art critic, photographer, humanitarian and volunteer nurse. She is regarded as one of the key figures of Serbian modern art and as the first Serbian woman painter to receive an international education and leave a lasting mark on the European currents of her day.

Her painting is associated with Impressionism, Expressionism and Fauvism, and art historians also see elements of Art Nouveau and Symbolism in it. She painted with a bold stroke and pure colors, most often directly in nature. For that reason, her work differed markedly from the academic painting that then dominated Serbia.

Yet Nadežda Petrović was far more than a painter. She took part in founding the humanitarian organization Circle of Serbian Sisters, organized the First Yugoslav Art Exhibition and the First Yugoslav Art Colony in Sićevo, wrote art criticism and took photographs. During the Balkan Wars and the First World War she served as a volunteer nurse, and she died of typhus in Valjevo.

A note on her date of birth: sources differ, with some giving 11 and others 12 October 1873. This article uses 11 October, as most relevant sources do.

Origins, Early Life and Childhood

Nadežda Petrović was born in Čačak, the first daughter of Dimitrije (Mita) Petrović of Belgrade and Mileva, née Zorić, of Titel. Both parents worked in education. Mita taught freehand drawing at the gymnasium, while Mileva was a teacher at a girls’ elementary school.

The family had thirteen children, of whom nine survived. Some sources, however, speak of nine children, so the figures differ somewhat. Among Nadežda’s siblings was the writer and diplomat Rastko Petrović. Two of her sisters also painted, and another was a musician.

When she was seven, the family moved to Karanovac, today’s Kraljevo, because of her father’s health, and Nadežda started elementary school there. In 1884 the Petrovićs returned to Belgrade. The reasons were the abolition of freehand drawing in elementary schools, which left Mita without a job, the death of his father Hadži Maksim, and the continuation of Nadežda’s schooling.

In Belgrade they lived in the old family house on Ratarska Street in Palilula. Mita took a job at the Tax Administration, where he advanced quickly. The house gradually became a gathering place for Belgrade’s cultural and political elite. The Petrovićs owned a large collection of old icons, one of the best private libraries and a collection of musical instruments. The future painter grew up in this environment.

She received her first painting lessons from her uncle Svetozar Zorić, a connoisseur of painting and a professor at the Great School. According to some interpretations, those lessons were decisive in her decision to become a painter.

Education

Nadežda enrolled at the Higher Women’s School in Belgrade, which at the time offered modern education and solid professional knowledge in all areas of teacher training. She graduated in 1891. After passing the professional exam, she became a teacher of freehand drawing.

Alongside her schooling she studied painting under Đorđe Krstić, one of the leading Serbian realist painters, and under Kiril Kutlik. According to one source, she was the first student of the women’s department of Kutlik’s painting school, opened in 1896. Art historians note that neither Krstić nor Kutlik left a significant mark on her later work. Even so, it was Krstić who encouraged her to continue her art studies in Munich.

Accounts of her work at the Higher Women’s School differ. One source says she began teaching there in 1893, while another gives 1902 as the start of her teaching. For that reason, biographies advise caution when stating the exact year.

Studies in Munich

In 1898 Nadežda Petrović went to Munich, where she continued her education at the private school of the Slovenian teacher Anton Ažbe. According to one source, her studies were funded by a stipend from the Serbian Ministry of Education. She planned to stay for a year and stayed for four.

Ažbe’s school was a gathering place for young artists from across Central and Southeast Europe. In Munich, Nadežda met artists who would later shape European art, among them Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky and Paul Klee. A portrait of Kandinsky drawn by her has also been preserved. Later she moved to the school of Julius Exter, where she was further encouraged to use strong, pure colors and complementary contrasts.

During this time she also made an important personal choice. In the same year she broke off her engagement, because her fiancé’s mother demanded a large dowry. She then wrote to her mother that she did not want to be merely a wife, but a painter. The line, “I want to be a painter, not just a woman,” is often cited as a symbol of her attitude toward art.

In Munich she also bought her first camera. The stay left a deep mark on her understanding of painting and, as art historians emphasize, on the development of Serbian art as a whole.

Return to Serbia and the Start of Public Life

Nadežda Petrović first exhibited publicly in 1900, at a solo exhibition at the Great School in Belgrade. The show provoked strong reactions, and sources describe it as a “storm and uproar”. The Belgrade public was used to academic realism, so her free use of color felt unfamiliar.

According to one source, she returned to Serbia permanently at the end of 1902, while another gives 1900 as the year of her return. The sources differ, and the discrepancy probably reflects the difference between a first visit and a final return. The following year she began teaching at the Higher Women’s School, and in 1904 she published her first art criticism.

In the same year she withdrew to the family home at Resnik, where she painted one of her best-known canvases. This period is often described as the beginning of her mature phase.

The Circle of Serbian Sisters and Social Engagement

In 1903 Nadežda Petrović was among the founders of the humanitarian organization Circle of Serbian Sisters, together with Delfa Ivanić and Savka Subotić. The organization aimed to help Serbs in unliberated Old Serbia and Macedonia. Nadežda became the society’s first secretary, and after a large women’s rally in Belgrade, at which she gave a speech, the organization gained broad support.

She personally carried the funds raised to support the participants of the 1903 Ilinden Uprising to Macedonia. From there she reported as a journalist for the newspapers “Slovenski jug” and “Pijemont”. Her engagement was not limited to humanitarian work. She was also among the first members of the National Defense (Narodna odbrana), a society founded to support national liberation.

On the occasion of the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, she delivered a fiery speech from the balcony of the National Theatre in Belgrade. Thanks to her knowledge of French, German and Russian, she also spoke abroad about the rights of Serbs and other oppressed Slavic peoples. She was also one of the founders of the Paris League for the National Rights of Oppressed Peoples.

The First Yugoslav Art Exhibition and the Colony in Sićevo

From 1904, Nadežda Petrović worked on organizing the First Yugoslav Art Exhibition in Belgrade. At the same time she took part in founding the Society of Serbian Artists “Lada”. Among its founders were Uroš Predić, Đorđe Jovanović, Marko Murat, Rista and Beta Vukanović, Petar Ubavkić and Sima Roksandić, and Nadežda was its first secretary. For her work on the exhibition she was awarded the Order of St. Sava, Fourth Class.

Soon afterward she founded the First Yugoslav Art Colony in Sićevo, in the Sićevo Gorge. Sources also describe it as a colony “in Sićevo near Pirot”. The colony began work in 1905, and Nadežda gathered there Slovenian and Croatian colleagues with whom she had studied in Munich. Among the participants was the sculptor Ivan Meštrović. She stressed the need to paint outside the studio, directly in nature, in line with German and French tendencies.

According to a Slovenian author, she was also responsible for the fact that the Slovenian artist Rihard Jakopič took the position of the leading Slovenian artist at the time of the first Yugoslav exhibition. To secure state support for the colony, she also approached Prime Minister Nikola Pašić.

The colony’s exhibition was held in 1907. In 1906 Nadežda also took part in the Second Yugoslav Art Exhibition in Sofia. The Sićevo colony was revived in 1964 and is today described as one of the oldest art colonies in the Balkans. From the same period survives her artistic postcard from 1905 showing the weavers of Pirot.

The Most Productive Creative Period

The period from 1904 to 1907 is considered her most productive phase and is called her “Serbian phase” in the literature. It produced landmark works of Serbian art, created directly in nature, on trips around Serbia, in Sićevo and at Resnik. Among them are “Resnik – Belgrade Cemetery”, “Resnik”, “Self-Portrait”, “Woman with a Red Scarf”, “Monk”, “Barges on the Sava” and “Harvest”.

According to one author’s interpretation, modernism in Serbian painting emerged thanks to Nadežda’s individual efforts in this period. Unlike some of her contemporaries, she did not paint an idealized Serbia, but the country as it was: colorful, patriarchal and poor.

In 1908 she took part in founding the Serbian Art Association and exhibited at its show. She also continued to travel, and in 1907 she stayed in Rome.

Rome, Paris and the Final Painting Years

From 1910 to 1912 Nadežda Petrović lived in Paris. In her work this was a period of intense absorption of avant-garde currents. However, because she arrived in Paris as an already formed artist, the new experiences confirmed her expression rather than fundamentally changing it. Among the works created then were “Notre-Dame” and “Bois de Boulogne”. She also followed the Venice Biennale and other major exhibitions in Europe.

In 1910 her second solo exhibition opened in Ljubljana, at the Jakopič Pavilion. The following year she took part in the International Exhibition of Art in Rome, as part of the pavilion of the Kingdom of Serbia.

After returning from Paris, in the winter of 1912, she painted a portrait of the young Ksenija Atanasijević, later a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade. The painting is now kept in the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection in Novi Sad and is among her most frequently exhibited portraits. At the time she also ran her own painting school and took part in the Fourth Yugoslav Art Exhibition.

During these years Nadežda lost her parents. Her father had died earlier, and her mother died in 1912. Photographs from this time show her in mourning, standing beside Meštrović’s sculpture “Mother”.

Art Criticism and Photography

From 1904 Nadežda published art criticism in which she championed new ideas, above all Impressionism, and stressed the need to overcome a traditionalist approach to art. Her reviews were later collected in a book published by the Art Gallery “Nadežda Petrović” in Čačak. She was also the author of a theatre play.

She was also the first Serbian woman artist to practice photography continuously and with dedication. She photographed from her elementary school days, and in Munich she acquired her first camera. Her war photographs from the surroundings of Prizren, taken in early 1913, are especially valuable, as are the photographs in which she posed herself. For this reason she is counted among the pioneers of war photography in the region.

The Balkan Wars

After the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in 1912, Nadežda Petrović volunteered as a nurse. She worked at the front and in military hospitals, including in Prizren, where part of her photographs were taken in 1913. According to the encyclopedia “1914–1918-online”, Major Vojislav Tankosić placed her in the Rudnik volunteer unit, where she served in uniform and armed.

While caring for soldiers she fell ill with typhus and cholera. For her service in the war she was awarded the Medal for Bravery and the Order of the Red Cross. During this time she painted very little, because she devoted almost all of her time to caring for the wounded.

Final Years and Death

When the First World War broke out, she again volunteered as a nurse in the Serbian army. In early 1915 she went to Skopje and then to Valjevo, where she worked in a military hospital. At that time an epidemic of typhus was raging across Serbia, and there was not enough medical staff.

According to available sources, she contracted typhus, and doctors advised her to leave the hospital. She nevertheless stayed with the sick and wounded. She died on 3 April 1915 in Valjevo, at the age of 41. “Srpske novine”, then published in Niš, ran a tribute on her death, ending it with the words that she was an enthusiastic Serbian woman and one of the founders of the Circle of Serbian Sisters.

According to a historical study of her cult, her remains were ceremonially transferred from Valjevo to Belgrade in 1935. That event is considered an important moment in shaping her posthumous heroic image.

Private Life

Less is preserved about Nadežda Petrović’s private life than about her public work. She broke off her engagement in 1898 and, according to available sources, it is not known that she ever married or had children. She gave priority to painting and public engagement.

Her family remained an important support in her life. She shared the house on Ratarska Street with her siblings and was especially close to her youngest brother Rastko Petrović, later a well-known writer. After her death, her sister Milica Mišković kept part of her paintings, and one of the portraits was later bought by Pavle Beljanski.

The family home in Belgrade is today the Memorial Museum of Nadežda and Rastko Petrović, which was declared a cultural monument in 1974.

Best-Known Works

Resnik (1904)

The landscape “Resnik” is one of her best-known canvases and is often cited as a symbol of her mature phase. It was painted outdoors, with bold colors and a free brushstroke.

Self-Portrait (1907)

The “Self-Portrait” of 1907 ranks among her most important portraits and is frequently shown at surveys of Serbian art.

Harvest (1905)

The painting “Harvest” was created during her Serbian phase, when Nadežda painted motifs from village life and nature.

Ksenija Atanasijević (1912)

The portrait, painted in the winter of 1912 after her return from Paris, shows a young woman in black clothes and a large black hat. It is marked by broad, swift strokes that serve a constructive rather than descriptive function.

The Valjevo Hospital

The canvas “The Valjevo Hospital” was long considered her last work. A more recent historical study, however, shows that the painting was probably made in Prizren in 1913, not in Valjevo in 1915.

Interesting Facts

• She was the first Serbian woman artist to practice photography continuously.
• She founded the Sićevo colony in 1905, and it was revived in 1964.
• A film about Nadežda Petrović was made in 1958, directed by Miodrag Nikolić, with a script by Lazar Trifunović.
• In Čačak, the monodrama “Unwritten Letters” was staged, in which Nadežda Petrović is played by the actress Vanja Milačić.
• She also collected objects of folk art. Part of that collection was shown at an Ethnographic Museum exhibition in Višegrad in 2025.
• She spoke French, German and Russian.

Awards and Recognition

• Order of St. Sava, Fourth Class, for her work on the First Yugoslav Art Exhibition.
• Medal for Bravery, for her service in the Balkan Wars.
• Order of the Red Cross.
• The Nadežda Petrović Memorial, a biennial visual arts event in Čačak held since 1960.
• A commemorative postage stamp issued by the Post of Serbia for the 150th anniversary of her birth, in 2023.
• The UNESCO Executive Board adopted a recommendation to mark the 150th anniversary of her birth.

Legacy and Influence

Nadežda Petrović remains a key figure of Serbian visual art. Her paintings are kept at the National Museum in Belgrade, in the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection in Novi Sad and at the Art Gallery “Nadežda Petrović” in Čačak, whose collection includes twelve of her paintings.

Art historians stress that she brought the European modern into Serbian painting and that her model, a union of artistic uncompromisingness and social responsibility, went beyond the milieu in which she lived. German audiences had a chance to see this at an exhibition in Munich in 1985.

At the same time, researchers point to a tension between her modernism and the later image of a national heroine that was shaped after her death. For this reason her legacy is considered today as both an artistic and a cultural-political question.

Biography – Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Nadežda Petrović?

Nadežda Petrović was a Serbian painter, art critic, photographer and nurse. She is regarded as one of the most important figures of Serbian modern art.

When and where was Nadežda Petrović born?

She was born on 11 October 1873 in Čačak. Some sources give 12 October, so the data differ.

Where did she study?

She graduated from the Higher Women’s School in Belgrade and studied painting under Đorđe Krstić and Kiril Kutlik. She then studied in Munich, under Anton Ažbe and Julius Exter.

What is Nadežda Petrović best known for?

She is best known as the painter who brought modernism to Serbian art, the organizer of the First Yugoslav Art Exhibition and the Sićevo colony, and a volunteer nurse in wartime.

What are her most famous paintings?

Among the best known are “Resnik”, “Self-Portrait”, “Harvest”, the portrait of Ksenija Atanasijević and “The Valjevo Hospital”.

What was the Circle of Serbian Sisters?

The Circle of Serbian Sisters was a humanitarian organization founded in 1903 to help Serbs in unliberated regions. Nadežda Petrović was its first secretary.

How did Nadežda Petrović die?

She died on 3 April 1915 in Valjevo of typhus, which she contracted while working as a volunteer nurse.

Was Nadežda Petrović married?

According to available sources, it is not known that she ever married. She broke off her engagement in 1898.

What is the Nadežda Petrović Memorial?

It is a biennial visual arts event held in Čačak since 1960, organized by the Art Gallery “Nadežda Petrović”.

What was the colony in Sićevo?

The First Yugoslav Art Colony began work in 1905 in Sićevo, in the Sićevo Gorge. It was founded by Nadežda Petrović and revived in 1964.

Conclusion

The life of Nadežda Petrović shows how art, social engagement and personal courage can come together in one person. She studied in Belgrade and Munich, absorbed European avant-garde currents and brought a freer palette and open-air painting into Serbian art. She founded the First Yugoslav Art Colony, worked in the Circle of Serbian Sisters and wrote art criticism. In wartime she served as a nurse, and she lost her life in Valjevo in 1915. More than a century later, Nadežda Petrović remains one of the most important figures of Serbian art, and her name is carried by one of the oldest visual arts events in the region.