Krsto Hegedušić

His most famous paintings depict the harsh life of the Croatian peasantry in the manner of naive art.

He was born in Petrinja, but when his father died in 1909, the family came back to Hlebine, the village in the region of Podravina from which they originated.

Podravina Motifs, published in 1933, was a book combining his drawings with a poetic essay by Miroslav Krleža, today considered a masterpiece of Croatian literature.

He spent the war quietly working on various themes, including religion (numerous sketches for the Calvary fresco in Marija Bistrica in 1941).

When the communist government overtook power in Yugoslavia in 1945, Hegedušić was appointed as a regular professor at the Zagreb Academy.

The "master's studio" eventually gathered an impressive list of notable painters such as Miroslav Šutej, Zlatko Sirotić, and others.