Ilija Basicevic Biography
Ilija Bašičević Bosilј was born on 18 July 1895 in Šid, Serbia. He was the ninth child in his family and attended a four-grade primary school. For most of his life he worked in agriculture and raising livestock. During World War II, he and his two sons spent time in Vienna, where he suffered from tuberculosis. After the war, his family lost their land, leaving Ilija with more free time. As a hard-working man, he needed to find a way to make this moment meaningful. In 1957, Ilija painted his first painting, Saints of the Kuzman and Damjan Family. He initially used techniques such as drawing and tempera, but later began working with oil paintings on various materials, including food, canvas, hardboard, cardboard, glass and safety glass. Ilija's works can be classified into different themes. Many of his paintings are inspired by biblical stories, particularly those from the Old Testament and the Book of Revelation. He also created a sequence inspired by Serbian epic songs, myths and legends. His Iliad sequence, named after the artist and not Homer's work, depicts his frustration with human stupidity, deception, and hypocrisy. Many of his works feature animals, with birds, particularly peacocks, being the most depicted, along with creatures that have human bodies and animal heads, or vice versa. He also created pieces inspired by flying creatures and astrology. A notable feature of Ilija's works is that they are not descriptive allegories, but rather layered. They lack perspective and the background is usually monochrome, occasionally with slightly wavy lines. Another striking feature is two-headed creatures, whether human or animal. According to the artist, he believed that all of God's creatures had two-sided handkerchiefs, showing one face to the world while hiding the other, the true face. Ilija's works lend themselves to different interpretations and are often assisted by the titles attributed to them. He died on May 14, 1972 in Šid, at the third Triennial of Naive Art in Bratislava in the same year, he was recognized posthumously by an international jury for his achievements in naive art.
