On September 23, 2019, in honor of World Heritage Day, the Croatian postal administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina issued a postage stamp with a picture of the Croatian artist Ivica Vlašić.

Ivica Vlašić was born on November 23, 1954 in Varesh and has spent almost his entire life in Livno, where he still lives and has his studio. In 1976, he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo. In the same year he went on a study trip to Paris, before continuing his studies in Warsaw. From 1976 to 2000, Vlašić worked as a professor at the ‘gymnasium’ in Livno, where he taught History Of Art. Since 2009 he has been offering painting courses in his own gallery, ART “VLAŠIĆ“. Over the years, the artist has had more than 50 solo exhibitions, been awarded numerous prizes and awards, and his paintings grace museums, galleries and private collections all over the world.

The work of this remarkable artist is dedicated to two main topics: the natural beauty of his native Liven region and the beauty of the horse. In his romantic Livenese landscapes full of light and color, it is simply impossible not to fall in love. The paintings of Vlašić depict the surroundings of Livno, it’s fields and hills, streams and rivers at different times of the year: with white snow caps in the winter or in a riot of bright summer colors.

The other favorite topic of Ivica Vlašić is horses. The artist’s brushes have given life to more than 30 paintings depicting horses, in all of which his horses graze freely in nature. As the artist said in one of his interviews: the horse has been a man’s best friend for many centuries. It has been used from prehistoric times to the present day in agriculture and for transporting goods. The horse accompanied man in moments of military glory and pulled his funeral hearse, always serving the man. However, in the paintings of Ivica Vlašić, horses are absolutely free, they are not harnessed to carts and are not saddled - they are part of nature, wild and primitive, as if they were not familiar with man. The artist in his paintings seeks to convey this freedom in the life of horses and the unattainable human desire for this freedom.

For the postage stamp, Ivits Vlašić's painting entitled “Alone with the Wind” was chosen - a realistic portrait of a beautiful white horse with a waving mane.
A 2.70 stamp was issued in small sheets of 9 stamps. In addition, an envelope for the first day cover and a special postmark were created.

I think this small picture (50 x 60 cm), painted by Ivica Vlašić in 2010, is just perfect for creating a postage stamp. Although, it should be noted that this is not a very characteristic work for the artist - as most of his animal paintings are small herds or groups of horses against a background of nature. The scenes with the horses were captured so realistically that, at first glance, the selection of paintings by Ivica Vlašić seemed to me more like a collection of photographs. It is clear that the artist admires these magnificent animals, capturing beautiful moments in his paintings, full of expression and movement, often lyrical and even a little sad.

The artist paints his paintings from nature - in fact not far from Livno, on the Cruzi plateau on the southern slope of Mount Zinkar, lives a large herd of wild horses. For almost 50 years, the stony plains covering 150 square kilometers have served as their home and pasture. The appearance of this wild herd dates back to the 1970s, when the inhabitants of the surrounding villages released their working horses into the wild, replacing them with tractors and other equipment. At the very beginning, only a dozen horses were set free to graze. Over time, despite difficult environmental conditions and rather cold winters, the horses adapted their habits, without human help and gradually went wild. Currently, the herd numbers over 400. In 2010, a law was passed to protect wild Livenese horses and now the Borova Head ecological community takes care of them. It’s members feed the herd in winter and leave salt. For the rest of the year, the horses graze happily themselves, given the abundance of grass and water on the Liven plain.

Livno's wild horses have become a tourist attraction for visitors and wildlife enthusiasts.

The realism and sophistication of Ivica Vlašić’s paintings will not leave anyone indifferent, I think Mostar Post made a fine decision to focus on this particular aspect of regional cultural heritage.

I recommend all horse lovers to get acquainted with the work of Ivica Vlašić - you will get real pleasure from his work.

I thank ART “VLAŠIĆ” gallery and Anna Vlašić for their help in preparing the material.