Alex Dzigurski Biography
Alexander Dzigurski was born in Backa, Stari Becej, Yugoslavia on February 1, 1911. With the help of the Serbian Church he went to Belgrade, lived at the Rakovica Monastery and attended the School of Art, graduating from the age 18 in 1929. He continued his studies at the Munich Academy of Art and volunteered for 2 years in the King's Navy (1939-1941). While in the navy, he began to understand and paint the sea and opened his first Zograf studio in 1941. He began his career in his native Yugoslavia decorating church interiors and became a sought-after portrait painter. When Hilter's army took most of his Navy unit prisoner (Dzigurski escaped), the artist fled Tito's communist regime through Italy and lived for a few months in Vienna. He and his wife Lenka and daughter Jelena departed Naples aboard the Marine Jumper and arrived in New York in late 1949. Best known for his dynamic views along the California coast, Alexander Dzigurski also painted in the Rocky Mountains, Glacier National Park, along the New England coast and in the Grand Tetons. Dzigurski painted and created hundreds of mosaic icons and murals for the Serbian Orthodox Church in Pennsylvania (supported by the bishop) after arriving in the United States. By 1952, the artist could afford to travel and paint, settled in California, painted the West Coast, and served on the staff of the International Art Publishing Company in Detroit, MI. When his wife died in 1968, the artist became discouraged and almost stopped painting. After breaking his arm, he recovered with the help of a friendly nurse Dorothy T. Dravis, whom he married. Dzigurski wanted to capture the beauty of America's seas and mountains by depicting his glorious panoramas on canvas. He said, "I love art. I'll go as if everyone disappears, but my art will outlive me." The artist died in San Francisco in November 1995, praised as "one of America's finest sea painters." He became a member of the Fine Arts Institute, Los Angeles; American Artists Professional League, New York; the Franklin Mint Museum, Pennsylvania; Republic Bank of Dallas; RW Norton Gallery, Shreveport, LA; the Michigan Bank of Chicago; the Ravenswood Bank of Chicago and the Society of Western Artists. His work is represented in the Belgrade Art Museum, Yugoslavia and the Ford Museum in Detroit, MI. Findlay Galleries in Chicago was one of his most active agents.
