An exhibition of paintings by Toronto-based artist Anton Cetin opened in the frame of the 16th Petrović-Rešetari Art Colony, organised by the Rešetari Culture & Visual Arts Society and the Croatian Heritage Foundation.
An exhibition of paintings by Toronto-based artist Anton Cetin opened in the frame of the 16th Petrović-Rešetari Art Colony, organised by the Rešetari Culture & Visual Arts Society and the Croatian Heritage Foundation. The exhibition features twenty-five collage paintings the artist has donated to the Croatian Heritage Foundation and five for the Rešetari Culture & Visual Arts Society.
“This is the first time I am in Rešetari and I am honoured to join you at this important event. When I heard that the CHF was organising an exhibition here, I said I would donate five paintings. On this occasion I wish to present one to the president of your association, Mr De Villa,” said Anton Cetin.
“I am happy and satisfied that I can greet acclaimed artist Anton Cetin, who has found the time to be here with us, and been kind enough to donate his paintings,” said Rešetari mayor Zlatko Aga opening the Cetin exhibition.
“This is the 16th Art Colony we have organised to celebrate the memory of Antun Petrović, an artist from Rešetari and in honour of St Anthony of Padua. The colony brings together painters from Croatia and from the emigrant communities. An exhibition by a major artist like Mr Cetin means a great deal to us and we are honoured to host this showing. What we endeavour to achieve here is to create a meeting of poets and visual artists from the Croatian communities abroad,” said Rešetari Culture & Visual Arts Society president Ivan De Vila, adding that the association’s gallery would house four collections: an Antun Petrović Collection, one featuring Croatian artists from the emigrant communities who have participated in the colony and have donated their work, one featuring academy trained painters from Croatia and a fourth collection comprised of the works of domestic artists.
On behalf of CHF director Knezović, Diana Mašala Perković, the CHF legal advisor and head of our department for legal and general affairs, greeted the gathered, many of who are artists participating in this art colony.
The art colony pooled some thirty painters from Croatia, most from the Slavonia region given that the focus of this year’s event was Slavonia and Slavonian motifs. The central figure of this year’s art gathering in Rešetari is acclaimed Canadian-Croatian painter Anton Cetin. The paintings produced at this year’s colony have enriched the gallery fund by fifty works. The fund is currently comprised of some five hundred works of art. This year the artists worked in pleasant new rooms undergoing renovation, slated for opening in mid September.
The opening of the Cetin exhibition was followed by a concert that evening given by the Slavča Croatian Choral Society who joined their friends at the Civic Culture Centre in Nova Gradiška to prepare a delightful event.
Text by: Željka Lešić