Croatian-American impressionist painter Mladen Novak is known throughout Europe and the US for his bold technique and fondness for painting on tin panels as well as traditional canvas. Novak’s works are especially well-loved in the US, France, Germany, and Croatia. The artist’s abstract-impressionist technique and use of subject may be inspired by the vibrancy of life experience along with the inspiration of subject, object, and textured canvas.
Novak studied at Maksimir Artist School in Zagreb, Croatia under professor Oton Gliha, who was himself considered to be the master abstractionist who revived landscape painting during the 20th century.
He left Croatia in 1966 for Islip, NY, where he studied technique fundamentals, followed by continued art education in Ethiopia. Novak settled in the US in 1988.
The artist established a reputation across Europe for his aquarelles — watercolors characterized by a thin, almost transparent technique — yet his style has been called both abstract and impressionistic, featuring bold strokes of color.
The technique of painting on tin panels was patented by Novak, and his works have been featured in solo exhibitions and galleries worldwide. In recent decades, the painter worked on commissioned pieces in Washington, DC, and he is known as a DC-and-Croatian-based painter.
Novak’s work has been homed at Galley 11 in Zagreb, Fuchs Gallery in Valbonne, France, and the Cochrane Museum in Washington, DC, and it appeared in the movie “Little Manhattan” (2005).
Inspired by the symmetry and texture of the tin panel architectural relic collection at Olde Good Things, Novak began sketching and affecting preliminary designs on the antique tin panels. Since then, the artist has completed a dashing series of artworks done in his signature style on tin panels from OGT since 2008.
The OGT collection of Novak’s work includes bright impressions of everyday scenes, florals, landscapes, and objects. The Olde Good Things reclaimed tin panels become both canvas and a piece of historic, artistic, and contemporary significance. Each panel has its own unique story that it carries with it.
In the OGT Novak tin panel paintings, you can see the artist’s free-flowing, celebratory technique in bold color — works that incorporate the texture and beauty of reclaimed antique tin.
For more authentic Mladen Novak tin panel works, recommendations on melding this unique style into your space, or more stunning historical and aesthetic pieces from our collection of architectural relics, contact Olde Good Things.
Shop all handpainted Novak tin panels currently available online.
