Rusmir is finding enclosed light, singing tone, he poeticizes reality. He assures us that beauty around us hasn’t dried up. His spirit is very much alive and restless. It looks like he founded himself with woman as a myth, woman as music of a poet, guardian of light, with woman as eternal painter’s inspiration. On his canvases she is still, frightened, modest and lascivious. And symbolism round her is common and it doesn’t allow her to leave us.
Nenad Verić, critic
In modern art, starting from neoromanticism, variety of artistic poetics occurred, which enriched our artistic reality. Some artists succeeded to make a special work of art in that extent, with recognizable mark that establishes significant budge in painting at his environment. In this circle of painters Branimir Rusmir has very important place.
My first lasting impression which I had in front of the works of Branko Rusmir was some amazing, solemn feeling of silence, noble sounds and fine restrained harmonies. In his concept there is a presence of realism, surrealism, romance and fantasy, mythology and religion. With ease he uses messages of styles of antique, renaissance in order to transfer that suprahistorical dictionary of terms and symbols to radiant part of his paintings. That is why on his paintings magic and mystique prevail, and glittering imagination which so masterfully transforms the facts from our revelations to the very soul of paintings. On the path of the search he wandered and floated, from birthplace Pakrac on the slopes of Psunj, and through life to Banja Luka where he completes Academy of Pedagogy, over Travnik, Kneževo and Kotor Varoš, the cities in which he worked as a teacher, Branko meets with landscapes in Central Bosnia and Krajina and with urban incentives which in mentioned boroughs and towns receive new inner inspiration. Stay in Paris from 1983 till 1989 influenced greatly on inner sensibility of the artist. There he met with new painting materials and verismo techniques which contributed to his artistic maturing. In newly discovered manner of painting – with trowel – he discovers his most suitable vocation of artistic expression. From over 20 group exhibitions (in the last 15 years) the most important are: Paris (1998), Belgrade (2001, 2003), Venice (2002), Rogaška Slatina (2005, 2006), Banja Luka (2004,2006) Milano (2007) …
He also had 9 very successful solo exhibitions in Torino (2005), Laktaši (2006), Venice (2007), Trebinje (2007, 2009), Rogaška Slatina (2008, 2009), Prnjavor (2008), Teslić (2009), Bijeljina (2010). At present he lives in Kotor Varoš where he devoted himself completely to painting work. While observing one of the paintings I wonder is the artist trying to calm the fight between the eagle and lion through the pirouette of a woman, and the cruel opposites which distort and crucify a man between the temptation of evil and striving to good. Or on other will he succeed to put asleep the dragon Landon in front of the entrance to Hesperides Gardens and enable to man to open the door ajar to that spiritual nucleus in order to overcome the human destiny and regained divine.
Saša Radović, critic