The City of Wandering Vagabonds by Goran Mitrović
2024
Oil on canvas
Image: 27 9/16 x 39 3/8 in
Framed dimensions: 35 x 46 3/4
Excellent condition
Goran Mitrović is a renowned Serbian artist born in 1968. He began his formal training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo in the early 1990s, but the outbreak of war prevented him from completing his studies there. He later continued and earned his degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Novi Sad. Mitrović held his first solo exhibition at the Belgrade City Library Gallery, and since then his work has been featured in exhibitions across Slovenia, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Republika Srpska. His paintings are represented in numerous galleries, institutions, and private collections in Serbia and internationally.
This painting, like many of Mitrović’s works, belongs to a larger artistic and linguistic continuum. His practice remains autonomous and deeply authentic, shaped by a personal visual language that resists trends and ideological pressures. While his symbolism can be complex, it consistently reflects a longing for a more innocent, unmediated experience of the world. Mitrović maintains a balance between painter and painting, allowing the image to develop its own internal logic. His work often incorporates surreal elements and, at times, abstract visual forms. In The City of Wandering Vagabonds, this dynamic becomes especially clear: the title suggests transience and hardship, yet the composition depicts a lively, almost whimsical cityscape filled with balloons and a Ferris wheel. The contrast creates an intentional oxymoron, inviting viewers to consider the tension between appearance and reality. Throughout the piece, Mitrović’s mastery of the brush and his gift for visual storytelling are unmistakable.
Literature: Goran Mitrovic (Serbia: Sremska Mitrovica, 2025), p. 65.
