This is an obscure artist so I’ll ask you to bear with. I cannot remember where I found him but I am glad I did. This artist has provided me with a wealth of wonderfully colourful surrealist pieces, one of which I shall eventually purchase (promotions permitting) and hang on my wall. See below three of my favourite pieces by Mr Naumovski.

Vangel Naumovski was born in 1924 in the Macedonian city of Ohrid (then part of Yugoslavia). He was interested in art at a young age, but this led nowhere as he left school after third grade and worked a series of odd jobs — gardener, farmer, butcher. After a stint in the army, he enrolled in art school in Skopje in 1946, lasting a year. He then worked in a woodcarving shop in Ohrid for thirteen years. During this time he was painting, initially in a folk myth style which led to him being considered a Naive artist.

In the early 60s his painting morphed into a gooey sort of surrealism. He first exhibited in Yugoslavia in the 50s, and later had one-man shows in Rome, London, Paris, and Toronto. At some point he started a gallery in his home in Ohrid (it is unknown whether it is still open). He died in 2006. Wikiart

Black Cradle of Life 1963

Why do I like this? Firstly I ought to refer you to an earlier post where I postulated that good art is personal and there isn’t a legitimate metric for whether art is objectively good or not. With this in mind and considering the above, I am quite taken by the colour combination on this one. The black and yellow and blue make for quite an enticing painting. I suppose from the title that this is supposed to represent something seedy (pardon the pun). I think it’s lovely.

Green Oasis is a joyful surrealist piece. I love the vibrant colours swimming together and almost tied up with the exquisite fronds in a way which is creative and fun. These dream like visuals are impressive and quite precise. The contrast between the large blobs of colour and the minor ‘roots’ are appealing to me. And in the end, I think it is great fun, which is what counts.

Horizontal Galaxy 1980

One of Naumovski’s later pieces is Horizontal Galaxy. I particularly enjoy the bright background of this in contrast to the colours in the globules of galaxy and the fine lines which remind me somewhat of caramelised onions when they are overdone. I love the geometric shapes and especially the blues.

These pieces probably don’t mean anything and won’t have great reverberations in the wider art world but I like them. And this is my blog. I enjoyed these very much and hope you do also.