Uroš Predić in Szentendre

In the jubilee year marking the bicentenary of Matica Srpska, the Gallery of Matica Srpska, in cooperation with the Serbian Ecclesiastical Museum in Szentendre, has prepared two exhibitions. The exhibition Mat(r)ix: Celebrating Two Centuries by Dr Danilo Vuksanović was ceremonially opened in Szentendre in May, while during its run, the Gallery of Matica Srpska will present the exhibition Uroš Predić in Szentendre.

In 2023, through a donation, the Museum of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Buda acquired an exceptionally valuable work of art that is uniquely connected to Szentendre and its history. It is a painting by one of the most prominent Serbian artists, Uroš Predić (1857–1953), depicting Saint George. The painting was created in 1902 and was presented by Predić to the Szentendre merchant Stevan Vujić and his wife Olga on the occasion of their marriage and family patron saint’s day. Olga Barić, née in Pančevo, was related to Uroš Predić.

In the autumn of 2024, a special thematic exhibition was held in Szentendre, featuring Predić’s painting alongside family documents and photographs related to Stevan Vujić and Olga Barić. For more than a century, the painting had been preserved in Szentendre as a treasured possession of the Vujić family. Until recently, its existence was unknown to the scholarly public. Thanks to the efforts of the Museum in Szentendre and its collaboration with the Gallery of Matica Srpska, this work will now be exhibited in Serbia for the first time and made accessible to a wider audience.

Every newly discovered work by Uroš Predić provides the basis for a new story which, supported by rich archival documentation and historical sources, contributes to our understanding of Serbian civic life at the end of the nineteenth and during the first half of the twentieth century. This exhibition tells the story of a family and their icon, as well as the paths that both the painting and the family followed together through time and space. It also bears witness to the descendants’ strong awareness of the importance of preserving family heritage, demonstrated by their decision to donate the icon—an artwork that is also part of the national cultural heritage—to the Serbian Ecclesiastical Museum in Szentendre, which safeguards and preserves Serbian art and culture in present-day Hungary.

Stevan Vujić owned a shop on Szentendre’s main square and later operated several stores in Budapest. For a period, he also served as president of the Serbian Orthodox Church Municipality in Szentendre. The painting by Uroš Predić was donated to the Serbian Ecclesiastical Museum in Szentendre by Stevan Vujić’s granddaughter, Rita, with the wish that it be preserved for future generations and continue to bear witness to the Serbian community and the Vujić family in Szentendre.

The exhibition is curated by Dr Kosta Vuković, Director of the Serbian Ecclesiastical Museum in Szentendre, and Dr Snežana Mišić, Senior Curator at the Gallery of Matica Srpska.

The painting depicting Saint George, together with documentary photographs and archival material, will be on display in the Room for Indulging in Art at the Gallery of Matica Srpska until 30 August 2026.