Oste Erceg

Oste Erceg (born 23 March 1947) is a Bosnian Serb painter from Novi Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Life
Erceg was born in Gornji Rakani, where he attended elementary and high school, graduating in 1966. He started painting in 1967, while attending the College of Textile - Chemical School in Zagreb, from which he graduated in 1972. Beginning in 1973, Erceg worked as an engineer in a textile industry. In 1986, he enrolled in a painting course at the Academy of Arts in Belgrade, which he attended until 1990.

Work
Erceg is notable for producing all his work as fingerpainting. His work focuses largely on his homeland of Gornji Rakani, and his memories of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. His oeuvre comprises 300 works, of which 100 have been sold to collectors from Australia to the Americas.

Reception
In her book Slikano perom art historian Danka Damjanović describes Erceg as a painter who developed his talent and style in isolation from other artists, who paints with emotion and expression as a means of cleansing and self-realization.

Academician Enver Mandžić attributes Erceg's sense of color to his training as a textile dyeing engineer. On Erceg's portraiture, Mandžić says "In every one of his portraits, we can discover those deep emotional traits that are immortalized in the spirit of artists and models."

Exhibitions

 * Solo exhibitions:
 * 1994 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad
 * 1994 Museum "King Peter Mrkonjića" Mrkonjić Grad
 * 2000 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad
 * 2006 Bosnian Cultural Center, Tuzla
 * 2009 Gallery Prijedor, Prijedor
 * 2011 Gallery Prijedor, Prijedor
 * 2012 of the Assembly Hall, Kostajnica
 * 2015 Gallery Bihać, Bihać
 * 2015 Gallery of cultural center, Gradiska
 * 2016 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad
 * 2018 1st mutual exhibition of Oste Erceg and Sanja Kuliš Kostajnica


 * Group exhibitions:


 * 1985 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad Art Salon Novi Grad
 * 1986 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad Art Salon Novi Grad
 * 1987 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad Art Salon Novi Grad
 * 1988 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad Art Salon Novi Grad
 * 1989 Gallery Heritage Museum, Novi Grad Art Salon Novi Grad
 * 2005 3rd Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla, Sarajevo, Mostar, Bihać,
 * 2007 4th Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla, Brčko, Sarajevo, Bihać
 * 2009 5th Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla, Brčko, Sarajevo, Bihać
 * 2011 6th Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla, Brčko, Sarajevo, Bihać
 * 2013 7th Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla
 * 2014 12th International biennial art miniatures Gornji Milanovac
 * 2014 5th International exhibition "Art in miniatures" Majdanpek, Beograd
 * 2015 8th Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla, Brčko, Sarajevo
 * 2015 2nd International exhibition "Moslavina miniatures" Popovaca, Knin, Petrinja
 * 2015 6th International exhibition "Art in miniatures" Majdanpek, Beograd
 * 2015 14th International Art Colony for children of the center "Duga" Bihać
 * 2015 13th International biennial art miniatures Gornji Milanovac
 * 2016 7th International exhibition "Art in miniatures" Majdanpek, Beograd
 * 2017 3rd International exhibition "Moslavina miniatures" Croatia
 * 2017 8th International exhibition "Art in miniatures" Majdanpek, Beograd, Petrovac na Mlavi
 * 2017 9th Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla
 * 2017 4th International exhibition "Moslavina miniatures" Croatia, Popovača
 * 2017 1st Art exhibition "Piralo" Kostajnica
 * 2018 5th International exhibition "Moslavina miniatures" Croatia, Popovača
 * 2019 10th International exhibition "Art in miniatures" MajdanArt Majdanpek, Srbija
 * 2019 1st Festival of art "ArtNovum" Novi Grad Republic of Srpska Novi Grad
 * 2019 10th Biennial art miniatures BiH Tuzla
 * 2019 6th International exhibition "Moslavina" Croatia, Popovača
 * 2023 10th Group paintings exhibition "10 godina s Vama" Ludvig dizajn Croatia, Zagreb

Awards

 * 2018 5th International exhibition "Moslavina miniatures" Croatia - One of three equal awards.

Personal
Erceg is married and lives in Novi Grad. He has two daughters and owns a jewelry shop in Kostajnica.

Newspaper articles

 * Oslobodjenje (12 March 2000, page 13) "Strange World Oste Erceg"
 * Glas Srpski (12 April 2000, page 14) "Cross anxiety"
 * Glas Srpski (7 April 2006, page 19) "Portraits painted with love"
 * Oslobodjenje (15 June 2006, page 24) "Pictures Oste Erceg"
 * Blic (13 January 2012, page 28) "Unusual artist Oste Erceg creates fingers"
 * Glas Srpski (2 February 1994, page 9) "Exhibition of Oste Erceg"