Milenko Atanackovic

Milenko Atanacković was born in 1875 in Šid, in a trading family. Immediately after the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1878 his parents moved to Bijeljina where they opened a small shop.

Milenko showed his sense of painting and expressed talent very early, in elementary school and according to everything he showed, it was obvious that he would be a good painter if he further developed and educated his talent. Guided by this, his parents sent him to further education after primary school.

In 1895, the young Milenko Atanacković graduated in Vienna from the preparatory school for the Academy of Painting with the famous professor of painting Schauer, and after that, he spent almost a year in the painting workshop of Paja Jovanović, where he acquired the basis and necessary education to study at the Academy of Painting. in Vienna, where he enrolled in 1896. That painting academy was famous in Europe and an unattainable dream of many young painters. During the first year of study, he received a scholarship from Matica Srpska, and after successfully completing the Academy, he also attended a painting specialization for three years.

In 1905, the young Milenko Atanacković went to Pljevlja where he worked as a teacher, first in the local grammar school, and then in the Girls' High School. After the opening of the Gymnasium in Bijeljina, in 1919, he returned to his hometown, where he remained for the rest of his life as a professor of painting and drawing. He retired in 1947 after an extremely fruitful and socially useful work. In artistic terms, Milenko Atanacković was a striking figure in the painting world of his time. He was a great master at making ink or graffiti drawings. He did not leave anything to global expression, emphasized and rough emphasis, but he detailed everything and brought it to perfection. In his paintings, every crease on the suit or the smallest details can be noticed, such as buttons, fabric patterns, its color shades and more. He left behind more than a hundred valuable paintings and several maps of drawings of old Bijeljina. His works can be found in various galleries, museums and private owners in various places in Bijeljina, Šid, Pljevlja, Belgrade ... Most of the works are kept in the Gallery of Paintings of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo.

Milenko Atanacković was one of the first educated painters in Bosnia and Herzegovina, so the gallery in Bijeljina proudly bears his name!

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