Stojan Aralica was born in Škare near Otočac in 1883. He studied painting in Munich, first privately with Heinrich Knirr (1909) and then at the Akademie der bildenden Kunste (1910 — 1914) with Karl Marr and Ludwig Herterich. He also studied graphic arts in Prague (1916 — 1917). Aralica opened a private school of painting in Zagreb and in 1920 staged his first solo exhibition. In this early creative period (1914 — 1925) he predominantly painted landscapes and nudes, shaping his expression in the atmosphere of the Munich Academy and of secession.
Aralica’s longer stay in Paris (1925 — 1933) and work in the atelier of Andre Lhote (1926 — 1927) marked the turning point in his artistic orientation. From then on he started developing his artistic expression building on the achievements of impressionism and fauvism and of the Paris school of painting, producing mostly landscapes and still lives.
His return to Zagreb marked the start of his third creative period (1933 — 1941) and his second stay in the Zagreb artistic milieu. While living in Zagreb he mostly painted intimate landscape segments of the Adriatic coast. This is considered his most successful period and the paintings were filled with warmth, light and clear intense colours.
His fourth creative period (1941 — 1980) was spent in the Belgrade artistic milieu although he also occasionally resided and worked in Rovinj since 1957.
Aralica received numerous awards for his art work. He was a regular member of the Serbian Academy of Arts and Sciences (SANU) and a corresponding member of the Yugoslav Academy of Arts and Sciences (JAZU). He died in Belgrade in 1980.