From this point of view the most characteristic notice came out in Domus (September 1958), written by Gillo Dorfles, who had previously not been so very much in favour of the art of this country: “… a still more interesting case is constituted by Yugoslavia, this year represented by five painters of considerable interest (particularly the Croat, Murtić, with his lively and non-conformist palette…). Thus, then, how a nation whose contribution to painting did not exist till yesterday can suddenly occupy the foreground”.
…“Edo Murtić totally belongs to abstractionism. It fills his imaginative compositions with unusually pure and sonorous colours… It has been written about him that he creates with an immediate and bold talent, with powerful opposition of graphism and blotches of paint. From Blue Shading there radiates a vital élan that rests on the surprising chromatic sensitivity of this painter…”
…L’Espresso carries a review of the well-known Lionello Venturi, who in his references to the abstractions at this year’s Biennale, writes: “Poland shows a particularly painterly sensitivity, and Yugoslavia the trenchant and powerful personality of Edo Murtić (1921).”
Josip Depolo
Art critic and essayist
Vjesnik u srijedu