Foundation of Milena Pavlovic Barilli, which is settled in Milena's home in her hometown Pozarevac, has been preparing this exhibition for several months, in order to celebrate Milena's date of birth.

Milena Pavlovic Barilli was born in Pozarevac in 1909. She lived and worked in Serbia, Italy, and US. Her work can be included in so-called “return to order”, that was a predominant stream in European art of twenties and thirties. Lazar Trifunovic considers her art belongs to Surrealism. Miodrag B. Protic finds three different periods in her career: “Munich period” (1928-1932), “antique period” (1932-1936) and “Renaissance period” (1936-1945).

Her painting is, similarly to her poetry, magical and enigmatic, with a few motifs that are constantly being repeated in her paintings: broken vase, lamp, female portraits (or her self-portrait). Inspiration for her style can be found in stylization typical for fashion magazines (where she worked as a designer), in painting of old Spanish masters – Velásquez, Goya, Bosh. Most of all she was influenced by Giorgio de Chirico.