Retired pensioner Ilija Milaković from Kočićevo, near Gradiška, has donated three artworks by German painter A. V. Rüdt to the municipality of Srbac. These paintings are not only significant historical pieces but also cultural treasures for the local community.
Rüdt, born in the late 19th century, was renowned for his landscapes, favoring scenes of marshlands, rivers, and rural settings. Some of his works, created in the 1920s and 1930s, depict the natural reserve of Bardača, once home to a rich variety of flora and fauna. However, after the privatization and drainage of the lakes, this area suffered severe environmental degradation.
Milaković, who left his homeland as a young man in search of a better life, first moved to Opatija and later to Munich, where he spent most of his working life. There, he became acquainted with a German family from his neighborhood and eventually purchased paintings featuring Bardača’s landscapes.
“I learned from them that Rüdt, with whom they had friendly ties, was of noble descent and frequently visited Karajzovci near Gradiška, where his aunt lived. From there, he would travel by horse-drawn carriage to Bardača to fish, as the well-known industrialist Viktor Burda from Galicia had already established the famous fishponds. The beauty of these regions awakened his artistic spirit, inspiring him to create these stunning paintings,” Milaković told Glas Srpske.
With the rise of Nazism in the early 1930s, the painter’s family emigrated to Ottawa, Canada, taking several of his artworks with them.
“They opened a hotel that operated successfully for many years, with Bardača landscapes adorning its walls. In the early 1980s, they decided to return to Germany, bringing the paintings with them. Eventually, a family from my Munich neighborhood acquired them. Since they had no heirs, they later decided to sell them, which is how they came into my possession,” Milaković explained.
He mentioned that he had the paintings appraised and learned that some were valued from a few hundred to several thousand euros. Publicly available online records indicate that Rüdt’s works have frequently appeared at auctions in Munich and other German cities, attracting buyers.
The artworks donated by Milaković hold deep emotional and historical significance for Srbac, preserving memories of a time when Bardača was a paradise for nature lovers. Once spanning 3,500 hectares, the area was home to about 280 plant species and over 200 bird species. Today, the former fish farming industry, which operated across 12 artificial lakes, has been replaced by corn production.
“These paintings depict the early days of Bardača as we once knew it and hope to restore it to. We have already taken steps toward the revitalization of this area. This is one of the oldest artistic testimonies of Bardača’s plant and animal life, as the renowned Bardača art colony was founded six decades later. We are proud that these works will be preserved in the new municipal gallery, alongside 741 other artworks from the colony’s collection,” said Dejan Dević, president of the Srbac Municipal Assembly, who officially accepted the donation on behalf of the local administration.
Milaković, who comes from a family of craftsmen, returned to Lijevče after retirement before relocating to Banja Luka. After selling his apartment and with no heirs, he now resides in a retirement home.
A passionate art collector, he has previously donated valuable books to the Gradiška library, gramophone records to the music school in Gradiška, and five lithographs depicting Kalemegdan to the House of Culture in Nova Topola. He also financially contributed to the construction of the Church of St. Peter and Paul in Kočićevo.
Source: See Srpska
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