About Artist

Drago Došen

Drago Došen was born in Brezičani, former Yugoslavia (Bosnia) in 1943 and died in Auckland, New Zealand in 2019. He dedicated himself to the art at his early age in which he showed a great talent. Upon the graduation from the High School of Art in Sarajevo, he continued his studies in Belgrade, Serbia where he graduated from the Academy of the Applied Arts in 1970. Drago Došen concepts link him to the early 1970's generation of Belgrade painters who turned toward a fundamental experience of nature, reinstating the subject theme in their paintings. In 1975, Drago started exhibiting his work, which resulted in the great interest throughout former Yugoslavia and Europe. It didn’t take long before his paintings enjoyed great critiques and reviews from his fellow artists and the general public. This made him one of the most recognizable artists on the home soil at the time. Throughout 20 years of exhibiting in a number of galleries in many countries, Drago managed to sell well over 400 paintings that went to private and public collections. In 1995 Drago moved to New Zealand where he continued to exhibit his work, looking for new challenges and aspirations. His last work was inspired by the new surroundings which brought a different flavor to his extensive portfolio.

Momo Kapor (1977)

Catalogue

Došen's scenes are woven from fine pigment, dreams and nostalgia. They are executed in an almost-forgotten watercolour technique that is rather unusual in our day and age. They reflect the minute craftsmanship of the Northern Renaissance, a touching Neo-Classicism that seems to have gone astray in an age of brutality, the persistence of someone who recalls his native soil with enduring love...

George Kadijević (1978)

NIN Magazine

The fluid, nostalgic ambient of these scenes is brought to life by Došen's ink drawing and watercolours. We can say without exaggeration that Došen has mastered this technique to its pinnacle of perfection.

Sreto Bošnjak (1977)

DUGA Magazine

Došen's painting is conceived in the subconscious of perception, more in the sphere of obscure recollections than in clearly defined forms of reality. He develops the perception rather than accepting it as it is, and so the form on his painting seems to be a late coming recognition of something once known but forgotten, something once loved but lost. His scenes take on the allure of a fanciful fabric of forms which reveals the intimate meaning of nature.

Exhibitions

1975 to 1994

ULUS

Belgrade, Serbia

1975 and 1978

Oktobarski Salon

Belgrade, Serbia

1977 and 1978

Solo Exhibition

Belgrade, Serbia

1979

International Drawing Exhibition

Rijeka, Croatia

1994

Solo Exhibition

Tokyo, Japan

1996

Briarhouse

Hamilton, New Zealand

2003 and 2004

Mairangi Art Centre

Auckland, New Zealand

2004

SOKI Illustration

Soul, South Korea

2005

Art For Nature

Utrecht, The Netherlands

2008

Solo Exhibition

Auckland, New Zealand