There are very few people who are as infatuated with their place of birth, as B. is with his Cavtat. – Bukovac’s unknown biographer wrote in 1903, in the manuscript kept in the Bukovac House. He says he only feels content when he is in Cavtat, but an artist cannot live here, so he has to venture out into the world. He has contributed greatly to the prosperity of his birthplace. His love of Cavtat is also reflected in his art. There are not many areas of Cavtat that he has not transferred onto the canvas. A benefactor of the highest order, he is much loved, even adored, by all in his place of birth, for he is gracious and kind-hearted.

It is our intention, with the exhibition Memorial Gift to My Beloved Cavtat, to present the works that Bukovac bequeathed to his native Cavtat. We are primarily talking about the paintings and scenic compositions donated to the church institutions in Cavtat, specifically the parish church of St Nicholas and the Franciscan church of Our Lady of Snow. Bukovac painted a large composition titled Carnival in Epidaurus for the local community space at the newly founded Epidaurus society, later the premises of the Zora society. It is a rare portrait of almost the entire town, or at least those residents who have, through their social, political, or cultural engagement, made contributions to Cavtat in the late 19th century.

In addition, Cavtat was a frequent motif in Bukovac’s paintings from the very beginning. The connection with his native land has been felt since the earliest extant vedutas that little Biagio Fagioni painted when he was about eleven years old, which he later repeated from various perspectives.

Memorial Gift to My Beloved Cavtat is a dedication that Bukovac inscribed in the painting of John the Evangelist, and you will have the opportunity to see it exhibited for the first time outside its home in the sanctuary of the church of St Nicholas. 

The exhibition will be open until the end of March 2023.