Notes on the Macedonian Expressionism
“You face the white canvas. Here you are as a painter,
here is the canvas, here is the paint. You don’t understand anything. How can this white canvas become life?”1F
Petar Mazev
#4 Petar Mazev is probably one of the greatest Macedonian Expressionists. An eruptive painter, his work is steeped in Macedonian history and tradition. In his painting he pushed the limits of established art. From the influences of St. Pantheleimon in Nerezi to Nikola Martinoski his passion for painting inspired a multitude of Macedonian Expressionists in the second half of the 20th century.
Although Expressionism is not the only art movement, it is certainly one of the most powerful. It embraces the essence of art and is one of the most important movements in the 20th century.
One might argue that expression is a part of any work of art. For example, the white canvases of Malevich are very expressive, but are not Expressionist paintings. Munch wrote “Art can be reached only from the human side.”
As the expressionists from the group “Most” believed in 1905, instinct, inner impulses and necessities are the basic language of art. The art deals with the inner and invisible and is not a result of a rational process.
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1. Sofija Gjurovska, Da ne bese strasta posilna od razumot, (interview with Petar Mazev), LIK, no. 25, 1987, p.8-9.