Milivoy Uzelac

MILIVOY UZELAC (Mostar, present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1897-1977).
"Virginie Hériot (1890-1932)."
Lithograph.
Measurements: 41 x 31 cm; 44 x 34 cm (frame).

With this lithograph from "Les Joies du Sport", published in 1932 on the initiative of Maurice Goddet (Jacques' brother), the artist Milivoy Uzelac captures an impressive image of the legendary sailor Madame Virginie Hériot. Olympic sailing champion in Amsterdam in 1928 with her 8-meter sailboat named "Aile VI", she was aptly nicknamed "Madame de la Mer" by the poet Tagore. In this image of Uzelac, with her flags fluttering in the wind, we embrace her with a special mysticism. She was a friend of Alain Gerbault and Commander Charcot; it was she who introduced the world of sailing to the female sphere.

Virginie Hériot (1890-1932) is a key figure in the history of French sport and sailing. She was the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in sailing as part of a male crew, winning gold at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, leading a crew of five men.

Milivoj Uzelac was a painter and graphic artist known for his expressionist style influenced by cubism and for portraying intimate scenes, female figures and urban environments. He was part of the so-called "Group of Four" that promoted modern art in Zagreb and developed much of his career in Paris, where he consolidated a very personal work within the European art of the interwar period.