Parallel Lines / High Modernism in Croatia 1949 – 1998
Collection of the National Museum of Modern Art

MNAC, National Museum of Contemporary Art
Bucharest, 12 December 2024 – 13 April 2025
Curator: Branko Franceschi

The exhibition Parallel Lines features 188 artworks that illustrate the diversity of artistic production in Croatia between 1948, the year of the Cominform Resolution that marked Yugoslavia’s separation from the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence and the aesthetics of socialist realism, and 1998, when the last Croatian territories occupied during the Homeland War were reintegrated.
The concept of “lines” is inspired by the writings of art historian and theorist Ješa Denegri, who coined the term art of the second line to describe a wide spectrum of artistic production and practices that challenged socialist modernism, specifically, the institutionally endorsed art largely focused on abstraction or expressive figuration. The two dominant positions coexisted and competed through dialogue, confrontations, public debates, and discussions, while also influencing and enriching one another, contributing to the development of a permissive, vibrant, and fertile cultural scene. The spaciousness of MNAC’s main exhibition hall allowed for the presentation of the parallelism between the leading tendencies of High Modernism in Croatia, which are now viewed as two facets of a significant cultural era.

The exhibition has been made possible with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the Office for Culture and Civil Society of the City of Zagreb, and the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in Bucharest. It is presented under the high patronage of the Croatian Parliament.
Exhibition sponsor: Orbico Ltd.

Artists featured in the exhibition: Kosta Angeli Radovani, Vojin Bakić, Petar Barišić, Peruško Bogdanić, Jagoda Buić, Boris Bućan, Ivo Deković, Vlasta Delimar, Boris Demur, Josip Diminić, Braco Dimitrijević, Juraj Dobrović, Slavomir Drinković, Ivo Dulčić, Dušan Džamonja, Joško Eterović, Jadranka Fatur, Eugen Feller, Zvjezdana Fio, Ivo Friščić, Goran Fruk, Mladen Galić, Ivo Gattin, Vladimir Gašparić (Gapa), Oton Gliha, Tomislav Gotovac, Stjepan Gračan, Grupa Šestorice autora, Krsto Hegedušić, Željko Hegedušić, Hrvoje Šercar, Ljubo Ivančić, Sanja Iveković, Vlado Jakelić, Đorđe Jandrić, Stanko Jančić, Božidar Jelinić, Anto Jerković, Željko Jerman, Marijan Jevšovar, Dean Jokanović Toumin, Vasilije Jordan, Ivo Kalina, Ksenija Kantoci, Zlatko Kauzlarić-Atač, Nives Kavurić-Kurtović, Albert Kinert, Željko Kipke, Josip Klarica, Julije Knifer, Eugen Kokot, Slavko Kopač, Zlatko Kopljar, Kuzma Kovačić, Ivan Kožarić, Vladimir Kristl, Vatroslav Kuliš, Ferdinand Kulmer, Rudolf Labaš, Milena Lah, Željko Lapuh, Branko Lepen, Vlado Martek, Dalibor Martinis, Valerije Michieli, Antun Motika, Marijana Muljević, Edo Murtić, Sofija Naletilić Penavuša, Jelena Perić, Ordan Petlevski, Ratko Petrić, Ivan Picelj, Srećko Planinić, Vesna Popržan, Oton Postružnik, Zlatko Prica, Vanja Radauš, Dubravka Rakoci, Božidar Rašica, Ante Rašić, Vjenceslav Richter, Arsen Roje, Igor Rončević, Branko Ružić, Edita Schubert, Đuro Seder, Damir Sokić, Aleksandar Srnec, Miljenko Stančić, Sven Stilinović, Mladen Stilinović, Goran Trbuljak, Matko Trebotić, Jasenka Tućan, Josip Vaništa, Zlatan Vrkljan, Goranka Vrus Murtić, Miro Vuco, Šime Vulas, Fedor Vučemilović, Đurđica Zanoški-Gudlin, Mirko Zrinščak, Ivo Šebalj, Ljerka Šibenik, Šime Perić, Miroslav Šutej, Vlasta Žanić

Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Exhibition poster ©MNAC Bucharest