Writing many years ago about the paintings of Edo Murtic of that time, Jean Cassou observed very precisely that «in him, everything is energy, wheter of content or movement». Looking at the most recent works, mainly large format paintings, this observation made long ago seems marvellously and up to date. The firm, certain gestures in an extremely simple way determine the structure of work. However at the same time they exude energy: in quick, forceful strokes that slide unstoppably over the field of the painting, filling up the whole space. If these works we have been able to find a kinship with works from the period of Murtić's most powerful gestural painting and have seen synthesis as the most important feature in them, this kind of conclusion does not have to be in any way binding. In this painting, changes have often been the rule. In temporally almost regular rhythmical intervals, stages of maturation can be perceived, full formations and then a kind of wilful abandonment of the primary painterly idea. The artist apparently betrays himself, but this treachery is always only on the surface, the core being ever untouched. If anything at all is relative in the painting of Edo Murtić, then it is the question of continuity and discontinuity, one and the other are interfused, and often stand at same border position that allows of easy transitions across to the other side without any consequences being incurred. Put simply, in this art, there is just one rule: there is no rule.
Zvonko Maković
Art historian, poet, essayist