Art in Montenegro Through the Centuries Mihailo Vrbica

Mihailo Vrbica (b. Cetinje 1871, d. Belgrade 1937) was a prominent Montenegrin painter who, through his creative and pedagogical work, made a significant contribution to the development of art culture in Montenegro.

As the first scholar from the Montenegrin government to attend a European academy, he studied at the High Academy of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture in Moscow.

Vrbica worked as a drawing teacher at the General Secondary School and Girls’ Institute in Cetinje, as well as in Podgorica, Danilovgrad, Berane, Kolašin and Zaječar.

His artistic repertoire includes portraits, figurative compositions, nudes, landscapes and icons.

At the Balkan Exhibition in London in 1907, he was awarded a medal for his portrait of Archbishop Šimun Milinović. His notable works include the portraits of Bishop Danilo, Prince Nikola, Prince Mirko Petrović, Mališa Tatar, Serdar Jole Piletić and Archbishop Šimun Milinović, as well as landscapes, such as View from the Belvedere, Lake Skadar and others.