Rista Vukanović

Rista Vukanović was born in the village of Bugovina near Trebinje, where, like all Herzegovinians, burdened with talent and ambition, he made his way to the world from the humble homeland.

In 1890 he enrolled at the Imperial Academy of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg as a State Fellow, and after a year he moved to Munich, where he continued his studies with Anton Ažbe and then with Wagner.

[3] Between Beta (Babette) and one year younger, handsome Herzegovinian Rista, love was soon born, crowned with marriage, and the two left for Belgrade in 1898.

The married Vukanović couple received permission from the Ministry of Education in 1899 to inherit the first Serbian painting and drawing school from the estate of its deceased founder, Kiril Kutlik.

[6][7] During the First World War, when the Central Powers invaded Serbia, Rista and Beta Vukanović left with the Serbian Army over the mountains of Montenegro and Albania to Greece.