(…)
Murtić became Murtić almost at once. Those were the years of studying at the academy, years of work, years of wandering. From expressive prints and colourist landscapes of the initial creative period, via the emotionally filled “painterly activity” of the 70s, to the kind of abstract figuration of the last few decades, a great journey was made. But still, the master always remained true to himself, a true knight of open colour and bold movement. Together with the development of personality, internal tension also grew, and a sense of drama developed. The black contours and the broad dark lines cover over the world of triumphant colours. The “Eyes of Fear” – that is what one of the master’s series is called. The paintings subdue by their great size – giant dimensions knock down the physical restriction, separate from the earth, provoke a supernatural horror. The observer luxuriates in the physical experience of powerful movements that go on in front of us. And the history? The horrors of war in the remains of post-Tito Yugoslavia well up in the memories. But irrespective of all the existential load of the painting, irrespective of the meaning of the ominous associations, these pictures are endlessly Mediterranean in their spirit and true to their creator in the genuine bases of their vividness. Not just the landscapes, but the whole of the creative work is filled with a great love for life. And so the black flashes in his paintings give off light, and the red sounds like an clarion call to routine, an anthem celebrating life in that symphony of sea, sky and mountains.
Natalia Zlidnieva, fellow of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute for Slavonic Studies, Kultura Moscow, no. 49